


Jacket

by Desdichado



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: Adventure & Romance, Blood and Gore, Childhood Trauma, F/M, Friendship, Joel isn't ignored, Not an edgelord OC, Tess' Nephew
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 02:15:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 32,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19263925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Desdichado/pseuds/Desdichado
Summary: Joel had known the kid most of his life. Always around, never leaving his aunt's side. A jacket and a skull would be the mark this world would know him for. But no one, not even the kid himself, would realize the mark he'd leave in the memory of his loved ones, the world. AU. Ellie/OC. Carried over from Fanfiction.net





	1. Jacket

**Author's Note:**

> A story from my Fanfiction.net account. Was advises to upload here as well, so hoping you enjoy. Let me know your thoughts and give constructive criticism if you have it.

**A/N: So here's my own little Aunt Tess' OC nephew fic. Honestly, I thought I was being original at first with the idea when I had it while in the middle of playing the game, but then I checked out the fanfictions, and, well... You get the point. This didn't deter me from writing the idea I had, as you can see.**

**This fic will include music being played from the OC's Walkman, so when you see the song being marked like this, for example:**

**[Song name - Band name]**

**Just search it up on YouTube, if you want to listen.** **Otherwise, just ignore them.**

* * *

_Knock, knock, knock_

He jerked awake with wide, startled eyes as he was ripped from his dreamless sleep by a knocking on the door. A frustrated sigh of air flared out his nostrils, his eyes closing in anger as he hid himself under the sheets in an attempt to block any further noises.  _I swear to god, every fucking morning something has to give me a goddamn headache!_

There was another series of knocks and his tired eyes parted ever so slightly to take in their surroundings, peeking through a small opening from between the sheets. The boarded up windows allowed a few wisps of light to beam past the covering darkness and pierce the dreary atmosphere that seemed so native in the dark and grey apartment.

He heard yet another trio of knocks and the other occupant in the room called out, "I'm coming!"

Joel was as annoyed as he was, apparently, if his voice was to be taken as a clue. His own, young voice called out shortly after, muffled from beneath the blanket, " _Or better yet, fuck off!_ "

He felt a soft slap against his shoulder and the gruff texan drawl of Joel followed shortly after, "Be quiet, Jacket."

" _You be quiet,_ " he responded childishly, half-joking, half-serious, and swept the sheet off himself once he heard the door open.

_Jacket._  That's what everyone who knew him called him (Even he usually referred to himself as such), on account of his all-black leather jacket with a dark-blue satin inside trimmed red that had become his trademark over the years, among others. It was fine leather and quality cloth, and survived many years with little revealing its true age. The back was adorned by a stylized blood-red skeletal hand-mark , cracks running along the bone of the index finger, and small shattered shards of bones were all that connected the hand and the ring finger. The center of the hand boasted a black scythe with a chipped blade. The hand was placed on top of the shelf of four big red crooked words that said,  _"_ _ **I COME FOR ALL**_ _"_.

_Talk about edgy,_  was the first thought he had when he saw it adorned on dead smuggler's body. It looked like something a cliché biker villain would wear.  _Doesn't make it any less awesome, though._  And he decided to nab it for himself, and thus was the nickname  _Jacket_  born. He got it when he was twelve, and by that time it was too large for him, humorously so. His aunt had giggled in a girly way that was extremely unbecoming of her the first time she saw him wearing it. Now, it still remained so, but only by a little bit. Back then, he thought it clever to call himself  _Jacket, the Vigliante of Boston!_  And just for the record, he  _still_  thinks it's clever. 'Cause, y'know, Jack and Jacket. 'Cause they're similar. Get it? Yeah.

Associates and 'business' partners called him by his nickname. But most didn't even know his real name. Strangers. He never really was social.

There were few in this world close enough to know him by his real name, Jack, and only a single one who called him Jackie. Well, the single one alive, anyway.

Jacket's tired eyes snapped open when a familiar, feminine voice reached his ears awoke his energy a little bit, "Wakey, wakey, Jackie-boy.."

"Aunt Tess," he greeted with a faint, yet genuine smile, before rubbing the crusted sleep from his eyes and sitting up. He got up from the couch and saw his aunt pour herself whiskey. He moved towards her, arms open for embrace when suddenly she flicked his ear. "Ow! The fuck was that for?!" He gripped his ear as it throbbed gently with a sharp pain.

"Language, young man," she chided sternly. "That was for telling me to fuck off."

"I didn't know it was you. You know that."

"Doesn't matter, I taught you better."

Jacket sighed, "Sorry, Aunt Tess. I mean, you  _tried_  teaching me better. But you know me. I'm stubborn."

"No you're not," she said casually as if it was common sense. "You just like swearing." It was true.

He shrugged in accordance without missing a beat, "Yeah, you're right."

She always tried teaching her nephew to be better a person than she was in every way, but she never thought to change herself. Maybe she thought she was a lost cause? Didn't matter. She was perfect in Jacket's eyes and that was enough for him.

Joel interjected from behind them in an impatient tone, "Sorry to interrupt your small talk, but just where the hell were you, Tess?" Jacket and Tess both looked towards him, and the former suddenly glanced at his aunt, staring expectantly, also curious of her previous whereabouts. Only then did he realize the cut on her cheek. A scowl quickly overcame his face.

Joel unknowingly interrupted his inquiry before it began, "Actually, forget that. What the hell are  _you_  even doing in my apartment, Jacket? I said I wanted to be left alone. How'd you even get in here?"

Jacket faced him with faked confusion, "Huh?"

There was a short pause, followed by a question spoken with anger, "Did you lockpick your way in again?"

"Uh… no?"

Joel growled in annoyance, "I thought I told you to stop doing that."

"Hey, the fucking military-"

"Language," Jacket heard behind him. He glanced back and saw her dabbing a piece of cloth on her cut.

"Sorry, Aunt Tess. The  _cursed_  military decided that because I was visiting to calm your tantrum-throwing ass down, they thought it to be a perfect time for ordering a curfew."

Joel approached him abruptly, but Jacket didn't flinch. "Don't blame the curfew, it's always the same time, and you know it. Besides, you're more than capable of sneakin' past some goddamn guards. If you can handle half a score of runners and clickers, you can handle the military."

"Half-score doesn't make sense, a score is eleven. One of them would have to be cut in half."

"Jacket, I'm not in the mood for this right now, ya hear?!"

A simple shrug was Jacket's response, having given up on trying to come up with excuses. To be honest, he never tried from the start. Joel seemed to have given up on berating him as well, knowing it wouldn't make a single difference with the seventeen-year old. He pushed past him and faced Tess, snatching the handkerchief out of her hand, "Gimme that."

Jacket watched as he gripped her chin gently and stroked the cloth along the wound, "Where were you?" He asked the question softly this time.

"West End District," was the curt response. Suddenly, the soft motion of the cloth froze and Joel backed away from her with a look of exasperation. "Hey, we had a drop to make."

" _We_. We had a drop to make."

"Well… you said it yourself, you wanted to be left alone. Remember?"

He leaned against the kitchen counter and crossed his arms, locking eyes with her, speaking in an almost patronising tone, "So I'll take one guess. The, uh, whole deal went south and the client made off with our pills. Does that sound about right?"

Tess only chuckled in response, and Jacket pulled himself up to sit on the kitchen counter right next to him, "Come on, put a little more faith in Aunt Tess, J." Joel allowed a short grunt out at his nickname. He liked pretending he hated it, but Jacket overheard him admitting to his aunt that he's grown to…  _not mind it,_  as he put it. Basically, it meant he liked it in his own Joel-like fashion. "Only way that'd happen is if her hands were tied behind her back. I bet the dumb son of a-" He suddenly and realized his aunt was yet in the room with him, shooting him a wide-eyed, stern look, "...Son of a horse… that tried to swindle my oh-so beautiful and badass aunt out of the pills didn't even get to blink before she put a bullet between his eyes."

A wry smile found its way on her beautiful face, "Maybe you're the one that's in need of a lil' more faith in me, Jackie." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a bushel of turquoise ration cards, displaying it in her hands for their surprised regarding, "Had no need for bullets. Deal went off without a hitch. Enough ration cards to last us a couple months, easy." She slapped them down against the table where Jacket laid his Walkman.

"Huh..." he said, admittedly surprised and confused by the revelation. Suddenly, the emotions turned to anger as he jumped off the counter and on his feet. He walked over and cupped her wounded cheek, rubbing his thumb against it gingerly, "And just who the fuck was this?"

"Jackie..." she said admonishingly.

"Goddammit, Aunt Tess, I'm sorry, okay? Just… who the fuck did this?"

She but sighed and gently removed his hand before returning the gesture and cupping  _his_  cheek, not having it in her to be mad at her loving and concerned nephew. "Look, Jackie, I was on my way back when I got jumped by these two assholes, alright?" Jacket's hands curled into fists as he began pacing around the room. "Yeah, they got a few good hits in. But…"

Joel walked up and gripped her chin again to inspect the cut once more, offhandedly muttering, "Calm down, will you?" It was clear he was referring to Jacket. He always got way too worked up when something happened to his aunt. Couldn't blame the kid, though, she was everything he had.

"Look, I managed," Tess said suddenly to Jacket insistently, and, not as gently as with her nephew, removed Joel's hand.

Joel backed off a step, nodding slowly in acceptance of her answer, "Are these assholes still with us?"

"Pssh, yeah right." He nearly rolled his eyes at Jacket's distant comment.

Tess chuckled and looked at Joel, "I think that's answer enough for you."

Joel grew impatient again and asked, "Did you at least find out who they were?"

She straightened, "Yeah, look, they were a couple of nobodies; they don't matter. What matters… is that Robert fucking sent them."

A silence took over the air in the room as even Jacket's angered pacing stopped when he turned around to look at the pair with a raised eyebrow.

"What, your pet? Oh, sorry. ' _partner_ '?" he asked mockingly while sarcastically gesturing quotation marks with his fingers.

Joel glanced at him before quickly asking her in a disbelieving voice, " _Our_  Robert?"

"He knows that we're after him. He figures he's gonna get us first?"

He walked slowly back to the kitchen, muttering to himself, "That son of a bitch, he's smart."

"No." Tess walked to his side, "He's not smart enough." She leaned in as Jacket plopped down on the couch behind her, covering his eyes with his arm as he laid on his back. "I know where he's hiding."

Surprise was evident on Joel's face, as was the disbelief in his voice. "Like hell you do."

"Little more faith, J..." Jacket reminded in a mumble.

Tess seemed smug, almost roguish as she sauntered to the middle of the room, "Old warehouse in Area 5. Can't say for how long, though."

"Well, I'm ready now."

"I'm not," Jacket said, suddenly jumping up from his seat and running to the bathroom.

"Wha- is he...?" He froze when seeing Tess' expression upon his glance toward her. "Do you mean to tell me he's coming with us?"

"Oh, don't act so shocked, Joel," said Tess. "He's been working with us since he was fourteen."

"This ain't work."

"You know what I mean. He's your partner as much as I am." When he remained silent, she continued with a sigh and a low voice, "Look, Jackie respects you, Joel. He sees you as a goddamn friend. The only one besides me. That's a friendship that is not a walk in the park to earn, let me tell you."

"Don't I know it," he mumbled. He still could barely believe it. The shy, quiet kid hiding behind his aunt in fear of the big, scary bearded Joel was now an eccentric delinquent without a care in the world for anyone other than his only family. He'd grown to be fearless in the face of adversity, and not even Joel intimidated him any more. He got his books' smarts and his aunt's courage. Unfortunately, he had no one's social skills, or any social skills for that matter. At all. His shyness and silence towards strangers bordered on debilitating. The kid could barely look 'em in the eyes. Talking to people was no problem, but when it came to friendship Jacket was at a complete loss. His own development as a person was drastic enough, but the work needed for him to warm up to Joel took one hell of an effort. He never trusted strangers, and for good reason. It's what got the poor kid's parents killed.

"The least you could do is appreciate respect he has for you."

With the help of her words, he realized he was musing and broke out of it. "I do, Tess. Hell, you think I'd tolerate him as much as I am if I didn't? He makes a couple of jokes and I play along as the annoyed, grumpy old punching bag."

"Yeah,  _play along_. Right." Joel frowned at that, but Tess couldn't care less and resumed, "I mean as a partner. He can do more than hold his own in a fight. Sure, his aiming could use some work, but his skill in close quarters more than make up for it. He knows how to stay quiet and move quickly. And in every deal we've ever had with him at our side, he's been nothing but helpful. He always listens, and he never complains no matter what."

"Well ain't that just dandy? He does what he's supposed to, to earn his keep and I'm supposed to coddle him for it? I respect him as a partner. But this is between us and Robert, and that kid ain't got nothing to do with this."

"Robert just fucked with the only friends that poor boy has in his life, and you're gonna look me in the eyes and tell me he has  _nothing_  against him? Look, Joel, he's saved both our lives and we've saved his. We might not need him but it sure as shit wouldn't hurt to have another helping hand. 'Sides, he might grow to respect you more openly, after."

There was a lengthy conflict that showed on Joel's face, but in end he finally relented, "Fine. But if anything happens to him, it's on you. I won't be holdin' his hand."

Tess allowed her lips to form a smile, "Wise choice, Texas."

* * *

Jacket stared at his own reflection in the bathroom mirror. He wiped the water from his face before his hand grazed over the crest of black hair that reached his neck and always seemed unkempt, though not in a messy way; rather, in a wild, almost feral way. He personally liked it, though the same could not be said for his aunt. She always kept pestering him to take care of it at least a little bit.

His eyes only added to the ferocious look he had when fighting as they were a pale-blue, a trait that, according to Tess, came from his grandfather's side. His mother's father, that is (Tess herself inherited her brown eyes from her mother). Most of his features, however, came from his own father, and he'd even been said to have mirrored him. Aunt Tess always did call him handsome, but then again, all aunts did that to their nephews. His cheekbones could, as she once stated, " _Cut through a bloater's plating._ " But he knew she was just exaggerating to help his self-esteem and confidence. Admittedly, it didn't look bad, if he was to flatter himself, but he wouldn't call it anything special. His jawline, however, was just like his father's, sharp and chiseled.

In contrast, his nose and mouth were rather plain in that they were normal. Not like a pouty little bitch or a small-mouthed fish. Rather, a normal balance. His lips sported a scar on the left side of his mouth, like a bolt of lightning. Not the Harry Potter kind either, but a real lightning-strike shaped scar.

He wore jeans and a red shirt, and underneath his clothes, his body was of a well-built stature, broad-shouldered, broad-chested. and muscled with minimal fat. Rations rarely afforded the luxury, after all. His muscles were strong and hardy, far more than most his age, and it was all thanks to the underground fighting he started in since he was thirteen. It had mostly been training at that time, and his aunt refused to budge about allowing him to go fighting until he reminded her that he had to survive one way or another, and he couldn't keep leeching off of her hard work. She asked around and found someone that was something of a coach. Cross was his name, fifty-two years old. And he was the one who'd taught Jacket how to fight hand-to-hand, and not simple brawling either. It was an old martial arts Cross was taught before the outbreak.

Kickboxing, he called it. Admittedly, he didn't recognize it, but the name did help him guess. More specifically, it had been a predecessor to kickboxing, a foreignly named ancestor called  _Muay Thai_. He had been training constantly for four years; every single day that he didn't make drops or deliveries or smuggle anything along with his aunt and Joel, he would fight or spar. Fighting was his life's job, his way to make a living. Those four years were littered with actual fights in between. Initially, he'd get his ass kicked. There weren't many thirteen-year olds around for him to fight, so he settled for fighting with adults. Originally, he never bet anything since he knew he wasn't winning shit, and it was mostly to build up his resistance to pain. This was done with him being turned into a ragdoll being thrown around by the adults who laughed at his pain and misery.  _Fucking assholes. They're not laughing anymore, though, now that they're missing their teeth._ As angry as he was at them, he did build up a greater tolerance to pain than most.

It wasn't until he was just starting in his fifteenth year that he finally got into a real match, the first one he bet in and the first time he used his own ring-persona. He lost, yes, and the match after that. But third time's the charm, as they say. This time, it was a normal-built guy with the exception of a beer gut. Didn't even stand a chance, and ended up with about half a dozen bruises on his torso, arms, and legs, a cut lip and bruised cheek, a single broken rib and two missing teeth thanks to an elbow strike. He couldn't remember, but he might have broken the fucker's jaw, too. The finishing kick  _was_ brutal, after all.

That day, he finally came home to his and Aunt Tess' apartment, holding three month's worth of ration cards and carrying nothing more than a cut above his eye. He was thankful everyone had bet against him, and he never blamed them for it even before winning. He'd lost his first and only two matches. The following matches after his victory had half betting for his victory, and after a year, almost no one bet against him, so he had to rely on the winner's prize, unless fighting someone of equal, if not greater renown.

He had more than a few scars to show for his years of constant training and fighting. Unfortunately, his skills with guns had come out… less than ideal. He wasn't the worst shot in the world (despite probably being close) but he'd much sooner use his fists and legs rather than his gun. Not to mention he couldn't even compare to most people, much less Tess and Joel.

He shook his head with a smile as he heard the two's 'subtle' argument, before abruptly ending it when he decided to join them. He walked past his aunt and snatched up his Walkman cassette player and headphones off the table. He stared at it with loving eyes. "I felt oh so lonely without your voice, baby," he said affectionately, stroking the glass gently. "Don't worry, I'm here."

Joel shot him a disgusted look, "First the knife, now you're gonna start kissing your Walkman?"

Jacket mock-gasped before hugging the Walkman against his cheek, though it ended up with him rubbing his face against it, "It's okay, he didn't mean it, my love."

He shook his head at the sight while Tess gave up keeping her laughter in, and let past her lips the merry sound. "Let's just get on with it."

Suddenly, when Joel was out of the apartment and down the stairs, his aunt pulled him back, causing a comical, muffled yelp to escape him. He saw her frown and mirrored her expression. "What's wrong?"

"Just what the hell was that back there, Jackie?"

"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.

"When you were talking about me killing the client? You acting all proud when you thought I killed him? Ringing any bells?"

Jacket sighed, "Look, I didn't-"

"This is a fucked up world, kid," she stated heatedly. "And I won't have you becoming like me or Joel. How long 'till you find yourself luring other survivors into thinkin' you're injured? What's it gonna take for you to finally snap and become a Hunter? I promised… I promised them I'd take care of you, and that means more than just having you survive. That means that you have to  _live_ , and live happy. Listen, kiddo, you can kill someone without caring, even I can't blame you for that. You'll probably end up having to kill so many it won't even matter anymore. But you  _never_ enjoy killing and you sure as shit don't take pride in it. Never. Understand? It's not right."

He scoffed, "After what those pieces of shits did… I'm insulted you even think I'd consider becoming like them."

"All it takes is the smallest similarity, Jackie, then it's only a matter of time before you become one of them. And you wanna know the most fucked up part? You won't even realize it. Trust me, I'd know."

Jacket chuckled but with no humor, realizing the truth her statement held. "Listen, I didn't mean it like that. I was just fuck- Uh, joking around, with you. You know, with all the flattering? I wasn't actually proud of the fact that you killed someone, was just trying to lighten the mood."

She had a look that basically screamed the words ' _Yeah, right_ '. "What for?"

" _What for?_ " he parroted incredulously. "What do you think? I could basically smell the grumpiness coming off of Joel."

"What?" she asked, confused. "I thought he just hadn't calmed down completely from yesterday."

"No, I'm telling you. Something else was off about him."

Before her querying could continue, they heard Joel's voice from down below, "Pick up the pace, we ain't got all day!"

"See?" She said nothing, but he knew he got her thinking.

They made their way outside, but not before Jacket placed the Walkman previously hidden underneath his namesake around the waist of his black-blue pants. He wrapped the headphones around his neck and they exited the apartments, his finger pressing play on the cassette already inside and the headphones started playing ' **[Tick of the Clock - Chromatics]** ', the music reaching his ears faintly and the ears of adjacent passerbys.

They passed a man and a woman, the latter discussing her recent draft for outside work.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"I got served the damn papers this morning. I've been selected for outside work duty."

The man malcontentedly groaned, "It's such crap. The soldiers are supposed to handle the outside."

"I'll make sure to tell them that." The woman seemed almost amused, but one could tell by her underlying tone that she agreed on his statement.

Jacket placed the headphone on his ears as they exited the alleyway, turning a right to pass the ration line. "Ration lines haven't opened yet," said Tess. "Must be running low again."

Jacket only spared it a glance before continuing on behind the other two. The warm breeze of summer helped ease him out of his sleepiness. The sight of the urban houses was as familiar as the back of his hand, brick houses of beige and grey and white and maroon made up his surroundings. Soon, they passed four people being detained by the military right outside a tall building, one Jacket recognized as being off-limits. After a few seconds of spectating, the scanner bleeped warningly, indicating the third person of the lot was infected. It took little effort to restrain and euthanize her.

"More people are getting infected," his aunt said.

Joel stated in response, "That just means more people are sneaking out."

"Poor bastards. Dumb as hell, though, so it ain't exactly a surprise," stated Jacket quietly, not wanting his aunt to hear him

Joel shot him a glance, "Why's that?"

"They're sneaking out, that's why."

He slowed down to Jacket's pace, walking beside him and whispering, "Aren't we about to the very same thing?"

"Yeah, but the difference between us and the dumb fucks back there is we can take care of ourselves. They obviously couldn't, seeing how they got infected."

Before long, they arrived at the gate and stopped after approaching the guard. His aunt showed the soldier his papers and the gate opened. As soon as they moved to go through, however, the truck that had exited the QZ suddenly went up like a great ball of fire, and for a moment the entire sky seemed to have caught fire. It was a vision of hell, but hell did not have guns, and bullets hailed down on the military guards, snapping Jacket out of his disbelieving stupor. "Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed in surprise, holding his whistling ears. First his aunt flicks his ear, now it had to suffer a fucking explosion!?

"RUN!" she shouted, pulling him by the arm. They soon rushed into a building not far away.

Jacket closed the door behind him before rubbing his ear. "Mother of fuck," he muttered to himself, silently. He quickly paused the song from his Walkman

"So much for the easy route," she commented. Her concerned eyes were on her nephew when she asked, "You all right?"

He nodded, "Yeah, but… goddamn! That hurt!"

Joel looked at him with the ghost of a smile, "Never seen an explosion before?"

"Not really."

"Well, there's a first time for everything."

"Great. Now I can go to my gang of rowdy, alpha male friends and brag about how I popped my explosion cherry with a redhead."

Joel arched an eyebrow at him, "A redhead?"

"Yeah, man. Didn't you see that fiery bombshell?"

Tess laughed at that and even Joel had trouble suppressing the smile that nearly found its way on his face. The chuckle came out as an indifferent sigh and the smile turned into faint tugs at the corners of his mouth. When their amusement died down, he asked, "That's a bit dark, isn't it? Those guards might all be dead right now."

"Against the fireflies?" There was no retort to that. "Besides, if they died, they died for some good banter."

The two adults exchanged confused looks before they both turned to him again, "The hell's a banter?"

"Like a… like a light-hearted conversation. It's a bit hard to describe, actually."

"Never in my forty-eight years have I ever heard the word 'banter'."

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to, it's british."

"How the hell would you know about british words?"

"I read books, remember?" he replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Which it might well have been. Jacket read through books like copying machines. Whenever he would recover from a fight, have time over from the day, rest from training, or wait during their drops or smuggling, he would read a book. He always had one nearby, never failing to be within reach. His aunt had spent more than a little ration cards on getting him comic books when he was younger, (one of the main reasons he liked pretending he was a vigilante) and, later as he grew up, on educational books. She could proudly claim that Jackie was smarter and more knowledgeable than anyone else his age, probably more than most who had an education before the outbreak.

"Guess your nephew didn't turn out to be a full-blooded american."

"Hey, he can be whatever he wants." She turned to smile at him, "He's my nephew, no matter what."

Jacket returned the smile and chuckled when Joel made a sound of disgust, "Anymore of this mushy crap and I'm done. Robert can live for all I care."

Something suddenly caught Jacket's attention, "Hey, J?"

"Hm?"

His eyes stared at his arm, "Check it out. Your forearm."

Joel looked down and saw the now-red, lightly burned skin. The adrenaline gave way to the following pain a bit ago, but he'd suffered worse before. Nothing to worry about, "'Is nothing."

"My ass, it's nothing. You're hurt." Rifling through his pockets, Jacket groaned, "Shit, I forgot the roll of bandage back at your apartment."

Tess smirked before pulling out said roll of bandage, "I didn't. Here, patch yourself up." She handed it to him and Joel began wrapping his forearm like he had done so many times before. She asked Jacket if he'd poured alcohol on it, and he confirmed it with a nod.

He let out a lengthy, quiet sigh, "I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say they're planning to close all the checkpoints?"

"Yeah," his aunt responded as they made their way up the stairs.

"And I'm guessing we're also gonna have to go around the outside?"

"Yeah."

"Outside the wall?" asked Joel.

"Or we could just let Robert go, like you said?"

He let out a scoff of false amusement, "Cute."

They walked past a black guy with glasses and a thick bush of a beard covering his face. He stood up from his dirty white plastic chair and followed them, "Hey, Tess, you see that shit?"

"I was there. Hey, how's the east tunnel looking?"

"It's clear. I just used it. No patrols. Where you off to?"

"Gonna pay Robert a visit."

"Huh, you too?" He sounded more confused than surprised.

Jacket frowned as his aunt asked, "Who else is looking for him?"

"Uh, Marlene. She's been asking around, trying to find him." Surprise was visible on all their faces, Jacket's turning into a soft scowl. Joel glanced behind at him with his own lukewarm version of a reassuring nod. The corners of his lips twitched into a small smile at the gesture.

"Marlene?" she questioned. "What do the fireflies want with Robert?"

The man sounded amused, "You think she'd tell me?"

"Well, what did you tell her?"

"The truth. I got no idea where he's hiding."

"Good man." Tess smiled, "Hey, you stay out of trouble, alright? Military's gonna be out in force soon."

"Yeah, see you around."

They continued their stride across the hallway when she asked Joel, "Marlene lookin' for Robert? What do you make of that?"

"I don't like it. We better find him before the fireflies do."

Tess' poorly veiled glance of concern towards Jacket wasn't lost to him, "You gonna be alright, kiddo?".

There was a pause before he answered, "So long as I don't have to deal with any of them, I'll be fine."

"We may have to. And not necessarily in a hostile manner."

Another curt pause. "Then so be it."

"Hey," she said beside him. Their eyes met. "I won't suffer you through them anymore than I need to, alright?"

He smiled a genuine smile, "Don't worry about it, Aunt Tess. I trust you."

It was a smile returned in kind before the passed into a room, and suddenly her smile changed along with the rooms they were in as she put on her act again.

"This is us," she sighed out.

Jacket saw that on the couch a man was seated, wearing a sweater with fading blue colour. "Hey, guys, how's it going?"

"Shit's stirring up out there." It was an honest response, and Tess is always honest to her own, no matter what. "How we lookin' over here?"

"Ah, it's been quiet. No signs of military or infected."

"It's what I like to hear." She moved to flank the TV stand, "Jacket, Joel. Give me a hand with this."

"Sounds like a bar or a store or something," Jacket said quietly as he and Joel braced to push the stand aside from the hole in the wall, and proceeded to do so with a grunt, the books atop it falling over. _Jacket and Joel, Jack and Joel._

The three jumped down the lightless hole and landed in the building basement. After a complaint from Tess about the smell, which Jacket happened to agree with strongly if holding his own nose was any indication, the generator rumbled to life and lamps lit up their otherwise pitch-dark surroundings. They vaulted over a large pipe in the passageway of the broken wall that resembled a mine more than anything before arriving in a room with workbenches. On them were all of their equipment, and Jacket grinned as he jogged to his backpack.

Immediately, he took the large, sheathed knife attached to a harness in his hand before pulling it out of its professional, clean black scabbard. A custom and personalised Bowie Knife was revealed, sporting an exceptionally razor-sharp edge of a 14-inch blade owing to his constant and meticulous maintenance. Its size bordered on being a machete but not quite. On the parallel side of the blade was an equally razor-like set of sawteeth. The paintjob on the knife itself was rather simple, the flat of the blade a smooth black while the edge itself was painted chrome-white. The handle mirrored the blade, black grip and chrome bottom. What truly personalised it for him, however, was the two initials carved into the matching small, oval plaques on either side of the handle.

' _ **D. B.**_ ' and ' _ **A. J.**_ '

" _God, I've missed you so, Harvest,"_  he whispered. He named it for rather obvious reasons. He'd had it since forever, but had never named it until he got his leather jacket that was, at the time, too large.  _A vigilante hero needs a signature weapon with a name,_  he remembered thinking. The symbol and words adorning his back had been a clear reference to death, and what more a fitting name is there for death's weapon than Harvest _?_  It was the purpose of a scythe, wasn't it? Whether it be harvesting wheat or barley or human souls.

He placed Harvest in its scabbard before strapping the harness onto his red shirt, the bowie knife's handle hanging against the small of his back.

Next, his hand scoured the table and gripped the famed namesake. The black leather jacket was yanked off the bench and put on with a graceful flourish of black and red, and hiding Harvest on his back. He breathed a relieved sigh, followed by a whisper, " _Being without you is like being without skin, baby._ "

"Not a lot of ammo," he heard Joel mutter aloud, snapping him out of his nostalgic comfort.

"Don't worry, I got some extra." He zipped open his backpack and pulled out his own gun, followed by a box of ammo which he opened to pluck out three bullets and handed them to Joel. "Make 'em count, J."

"That comin' from you?" His deadpan expression elicited a faint smirk from the old man. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," he mumbled back, absentminded as he checked to see if everything was still where they were supposed to be. He had less need of bullets than either Tess or Joel, mostly because he used stealth to sneak up and Harvest anyone or anything in his way. (He liked calling it to Harvest someone rather than kill. In his mind, it sounded way more awesome and such a comic-book-antihero thing to say.)

His hand scanned the inside of his backpack for a last item. His hand found purchase and pulled out the one thing besides his name and namesake that was his own comic-book-antihero signature. A mark he was known for.

In his hand he held a GSR Gas Mask absent its canisters. It was the latest issued to the military of another country in the world, England, right before the global outbreak. His aunt had given it to him, and he knew she hadn't bought it in the black market (a presumption she confirmed). She'd revealed that it originally belonged to his father.

And the reason it was his own ' _little_ ' trademark? It had been given a rather… significant paintjob. A white skull marked the entire mask with a black silhouette and a fiery ember scarring a crack down the right side of its jaw, right below its teeth. And how daunting the teeth were! Long like the blade of a knife and sharp like a razor's edge. Without the canisters, the terrifying white teeth ran along the entire mask. The skull's nasal cavity rested on the mask's nose, between the single, large eye of the mask.

Aunt Tess told him that all of it had been painted on by his mother and planned it as a gift for his father.

His jacket was his namesake, and he loved it no matter what happened to it; if it were to get burned into single strip of cloth, he'd still wear it. But this mask had become his true face. It was the face he showed to strangers, the only way he could ever go out in the world without his shyness preventing him from living with others. Without it, he couldn't even look other people in the eye, Joel and Aunt Tess being the obvious exceptions.

He put on the mask with a sigh of relief and proceeded to check if the two canisters yet remained in his backpack.

Joel shot a faint glare his way. "You ever plan to stop makin' those noises whenever you put those things on?"

"Nope."

He heard a grumble when his hands confirmed that the two canisters remained, "Didn't think so."

His aunt placed her hand on his shoulder, "Hey, you ready?"

"Hold on, just gonna check for one last thing." He closed the main zipper and opened the smaller one to reveal his abundant collection of cassette tapes, each one containing different songs of drastically different genres.  _These_ , along with his Walkman, were his utmost prized possessions, each and every single one worth more than a human life, including his own. They had been his ever since his tenth birthday, the Walkman among them. His aunt told him it all belonged to his mother. She went through the trouble of recording every single song on the cassette tapes because she preferred the ' _classic feel'_  over an iPod. Whatever that was.

He rummaged through them all to find one particular cassette and pulled it out. He smiled, glad that  _this_  one hadn't been missing. He checked for it every single time he either started or ended a job with Aunt Tess. His eyes ran over the text, over and over again. It read, " _ **Happy Birthday, Jack!**_ "

Jacket placed it with the rest and zipped it close before he slung the backpack on him.

"Let's go," said Joel.

They traversed their way over a ledge and into a long-abandoned diner through a hole in the floor before finally exiting its doorway. They were greeted by the beautiful sight of the outside world. Old and, to him, historical ruins of buildings were covered in the greenery of nature. In this world, vines intertwined with fences and hill roads were spearheaded by sprouting, large trunks of trees, all headed by beautiful green elms. He always resented the idea that before the outbreak, people would mow their lawn and cut down nature's gifts. How could anyone ever wish to prevent this beauty? As a kid, hearing it from his aunt almost made him cry, that people would so casually ruin something he loved so much to simply see. Thankfully, for the both of them, she managed to avert it a new  _Savage Starlight_ comic book she bought.

He shook his head as he looked around, realizing how ridiculous he was as a child. Now, he understood it. They had to keep things orderly and organized in order to maintain their buildings. It didn't blind him, however, to the greediness of men that delved in deforestation.  _Them_ , he did resent.

But it didn't matter. Who knows, perhaps CBI was nature's way of saying, "Fuck you, fuck your mother and your father, fuck your family's honor, and fuck everything you stand for! See if you can cut down any trees after this!"

_If so, nature overdid it. I mean, Jesus, fucking CBI? Kind of an overkill if you ask me._

"You're talking to yourself again," he heard his aunt say when she stood beside him.

"What did I say?"

"Nature overdid it, or something. I think I heard overkill, too."

"Oh, sorry." He had a habit of talking to himself, intentionally and otherwise.

"Come on, let's get going."

As they walked, Joel commented, "Ain't been out here in awhile."

"It's like we're on a date," his aunt responded, causing him to shoot her a disgusted look underneath his skull-mask.

"Well, I  _am_  the romantic type."

"You got your ways."

"Okay," said Jacket, suddenly. "Ease up there, big guy. That's my aunt, keep it polite and platonic or I'm chopping your dick off."

They both laughed at him.

_What? I'm not joking._  He wasn't joking. Despite that, he smiled, knowing that the two of them were.

* * *

Jacket whistled inside his mask, muffling it to the other two in the room as they waited on the juvenile door-keeper to give the all-clear.

He unknowingly drifted off into musing, thinking upon the last fifteen minutes.

They'd gone through the same path as always, and yet, surprisingly, they discovered spores littering the air, and not far away some runners. Before them, however, they'd come across a man stuck beneath a large, fallen file cabinet. His mask broke and his hoarse voice suggested he'd breathed in way too many spores for a single man. He pleaded for them to prevent him turning, and with a somber realization, Jacket knew it there was only one way.

He unsheathed his bowie knife from his back-holster and bowed one knee to the floor, staring the man in the eye without waver. The man recognized the skull-mask and let out a chuckle absent humor, "It's you, huh? Son of Samedi?" It was his 'ring-name', so to speak. He'd remove his mask and paint on an identical skull on his face with children's face paint his aunt had found while scavenging during one of her drops when he was yet to enter puberty. He took on the name  _Son of Samedi_  when he was sixteen, after having read about the mythical figure. It didn't take a genius for everyone to realize the skull-mask wearing guy and the painted-on-skull-faced guy was the same person.

Jacket didn't answer the man's rhetorical question, instead staring with a question of his own on his lips, "What's  _your_  name?"

"Hor-" he began for a coughing fit overtook his lungs.

Joel, ever impatient, gently tapped him on the shoulder, "Listen, Jacket, we oughta get going. Just put a bullet in his head and be done with it, there's no need for all this ceremony."

He glared up at him coldly, "Sorry to tell you, but I'm not like you. Death yet holds meaning to me." He turned back to the dying man. "Your name?"

"...Horatio."

"Horatio." He spoke the name somberly. "I hope the afterlife brings you what you deserve." Not a moment later, his knife brutally, yet painlessly, pierced the man's brain through the right eye. Not an easy feat with a bowie knife, but he'd mastered its use in many, many ways.

They then proceeded to the room with three runners chowing down on some unlucky meal. They were easily dealt with. Joel shivved one in the neck, Aunt Tess took the other down with a single bullet to the head, and Jacket took the last one's head off her shoulders. The rest of their journey was uneventful, only more supplies and a note someone wrote for their brother.

He was shook out of his musing by the thunking on glass as the kid signalled green. Aunt Tess opened the door and they followed her, eyes greeted by the sight of the black market, free from the dictatorship of the military and ruled by the tyranny of the more powerful criminals.

A disheveled, filthy looking man with probably the worst haircut Jacket had ever seen stood at the corner of the building and spotted his aunt, springing him into action, "Hey, Tess. Hey Tess. Hey, pretty lady, how you doin' t'day? I heard you got some merch-"

"Not right now, Terrence," she interrupted.

The man persisted, to his ire. "No, no, it's good, I got the-"

Jacket softly but swiftly placed his hand on Terrence's chest when he saw the annoyance on his aunt's expression. His voice was firm and strong despite its youth when he said, "Enough, she's busy."

"Okay," Terrence said, backing off with his hands held up, "Is all cool, I can do that."

He inclined his head at the man politely, in spite of his previous attitude, "Thank you for respecting her wishes."

Terrence looked surprised and uncertain, "Y-yeah, of course, man." Jacket ignored his reaction at his own odd behavior, and turned around. When he returned to the two, he saw a pair of dogs barking behind a fence meant to act as a display for merchandise, the merchandise being the dogs, obviously.

The owner of the animals saw his staring, "Sorry, man. All these dogs are accounted for. Sold out less than an hour ago. Try me next week."

_Is Robert planning ahead? We know he's expecting us. Too bad the dogs won't arrive in time to protect their new master._ They strode into the market, their path flanked by several vendors. He stopped in front of one black guy that rose from his seat and said, "You touch it, you buy it."

"So… if I touch you, does it mean I get you for an hour." He looked surprised before scowling. "Ooh, going for the tough guy act, huh? Don't worry, I like a feisty challenge," Jacket jested with a pat on the man's shoulder, causing him to growl like one of the dogs from before. He faked nervousness at the man's growl and leaned his head back.

A voice called out from behind, "Easy, Samuel. The kid's joking around." He turned to see guy leisurely seated with a girl on his lap.

"How 'bout you mind your own damn business, pretty boy."

Having no interest in listening to their argument, he joined his nearby aunt and Joel. Surprisingly, there was no argument as the guy with the girl on his lap called out to him and Aunt Tess.

"Tess, Jacket, it's been awhile. You don't visit us anymore."

Tess ignored him while Jacket sent him a simple, curt nod, "Donny." The girl on Donny's lap stared at Tess who was walking off towards the bus.

"Who the hell is that?"

"None of your damn business," he answered with irritation.

Jacket glared at her, his pale eyes and dread-inspiring mask making her nervous, "Listen to your boyfriend, Bug-Eyes. You have nothing to worry about," He gestured his head at Donny, "Shitfuck, here, is all yours. If he had any interest in Aunt Tess, he'd lose it along with his dick."

Donny laughed, holding up his hands in mock-surrender, "A fact you made clear the first time we met. Don't worry, I'm not taking the risk."

"Good," was all he said before following the others into the bus, arriving just in time to see Malick being ordered to sit down by his aunt. He looked to his right and saw the fighting ring. It was once no more than a small area where only around four people would spectate two fighters. Now, thanks to Cross and Jacket, the 'arena' had prospered to the point that they moved the bus further to the left, to grant more width, and pushing the 'walls' of the arena to either ends of the bus. Presently, around twenty people beheld a handicap match with two smaller-statured women going up against a giant of a man.  _Goliath,_  everyone called him. A veteran of the ring.

He'd gone up against him, but only when offered by Goliath for a friendly spar. But if he had gone up against him in a real match?  _Oh, fuck no! I'm fast and strong, but that motherfucker's made of stone and is the size of a damn pillar!_

Before any of them could spot his symbolic gas mask, he quickly made his way past the gridded windows to where they had been boarded up beside Malick. Partly out of not wanting to be recognized, seeing how they could be used as witnesses since Robert was about to die soon. But mostly since, in truth, despite his bravado and persona in the ring, he hated attention almost more than anything else in this world.

He stopped in front of the bouncer, holding out his hand. Joel and Tess glanced at him curiously, "Out with it. Two week's worth, remember?"

Malick sighed before reluctantly handing him the ration cards, and Jacket finally exited the bus with them.

His aunt stared at him as they walked, "You wanna tell me what that was about?"

"We had a bet between us, I won. He payed up."

"For what?"

"He bet against me when I fought Jared."

"Oh. I've no idea who Jared is."

"Don't worry about it."

Joel asked suddenly, "Who was that, anyway?" The question was directed towards Tess.

"An old headache. Don't ask."

They stepped into the alley where perhaps the most cliché-looking shady dude was leaning against the wall right beside an open-doored fence. "I'm lookin' for Robert," his aunt said, leaning in close with cards in her hand. "He come through here?"

He smiled, "Half hour ago. He went back to the wharf. He's there now."

Without another word, they moved past him and further into the alley where Firefly symbols littered the walls. It didn't take long for them to come across an area with tables and barrels separating them from three of men.  _Perfect for cover, if need be._  How did he know they were Robert's? Well…

"Let us through," said Tess.

"You guys need to turn around and head back if you know what's good for you."

Jacket stepped forward so that both he and Joel were adjacent to his aunt, "There's no need for conflict here, man. Give us Robert and let that be the end of it, okay?"

The man seemed almost amused, but it was only a mask hiding anger, "You think you can scare me with your mask? Turn the fuck around, 'fore I rip that thing off along with your face."

Suddenly, his aunt placed her arm on his chest protectively, "Hey! You watch it when talking with him, understand? Now, we're here for Robert. Let us through and no one here has to die."

The man's irritability had reached its boiling point as he stomped forward slowly, pointing his finger at her. Jacket scowled, only his furrowing brows showing beneath the mask, his hand clenching into a fist before subtly reaching for the Harvest on the small of his back.

"Bitch, I will bash your fucking-"

None had time to react as Jacket, in his anger, pulled his knife from its scabbard and swung it down with expert precision to cut off the man's hand at the wrist. He stared at the blood-spurting stump in shock, and had been given no time to scream before he spun around with an opened, ensanguined throat when Jacket Harvested him. Joel and Tess took advantage of his two chums frozen in shock at the brutality by pulling out their guns immediately and gunning them down.

His aunt sighed, "Well, that takes care of that. You alright?" she asked Jacket.

"I am, now." He stared at Joel as the older man looted the dead corpses for ammo.

"Good, we can't have you angry if we're to reach Robert."

He met her eyes, nodding, "Yeah, of course."

"And, uh..." She looked down at the handless body of the man that had insulted her in such a way, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Joel interrupted them, "This is all very touching, but can we please keep going? Robert ain't waiting all day."

"Yeah, sure." Jacket suddenly stood rigid before raising Harvest into the air like it was a sword, "The time has come, 'tis the season! LET US HARVEST OUR FOES AND WATER OUR CROPS WITH THEIR BLOOD!" he roared into the sky over-dramatically.

His aunt shook her head, trying to hide her smile, while Joel just face-palmed with a groan. "Goddammit, Tess. Why did I agree to this?"

* * *

**A/N: Ta-da! There's the first chapter for you. It was mostly to introduce Jacket, obviously. I decided to balance out his mastery of CQC and the bowie knife by making him a shit aim. I don't want him to be perfect or to make this a piggyback fic. I'm planning on making his skill symbiotic to his allies.**

**Also, I know the infection can be spread through saliva, so don't worry about it, I know.**

**His character will obviously be more fleshed out as the story goes on, but I'd still like to hear your opinion on Jacket so far.**

**See y'all next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

With every cold rasp of Jacket's unsheathing blade, another of Robert's goons was harvested, all left with cleaved chests, cut throats, or missing heads. He made an effort to be merciful while sneaking by carving the sawteeth through their throats, bleeding them quickly and quietly. It was only in struggles and fights that he abandoned all sense of the word and took every opportunity that presented itself to harm or kill them, no matter how brutal. Aunt Tess took care of tactics, pointing them to their next kill while they carried them out. Joel's stealth capabilities were good, without a doubt, but Jacket had fit the ideal more. Quicker, quieter, exceptional hearing, and he had more than shivs that broke after a single fucking use. As such, he was the primary candidate for scouting and sneaking up ahead to thin the herd before the other two moved in to either remove the rest with relative ease, or back him up in case he slipped. He was only human, after all, and mistakes were to be expected.

It was how they always operated, and that's how they handle it this time. It was just after they'd cleared the warehouse that Tess commented, "We shoulda brought more people."

"They'd just slow us down," countered Joel.

Jacket wiped the bloodied blade of his bowie knife on his last victim's shirt. "I'm the one that should've gone lone wolf," he said, standing straight after his blade was clean enough, "You two can't keep up."

His aunt smirked, knowing he was just teasing. Joel, however, raised an eyebrow at him, "That a challenge?"

"No, that's fact. You're getting old." He smiled to his aunt, "And it's only showing for one of you."

"Hmph," grunted Joel.

"Aren't you just a complete Casanova?" Tess said dryly.

"You know it, A.T. Yeah, I'm a real womanizer."  _A.T_  was his own shortened version for  _Aunt Tess_. It was simple and not all that original, but again, it helped to keep their relationship hidden from unsavory ears.

Sarcasm was basically dripping from her voice, "You need to ease up, I don't think I can scare off all the girls chasing you for long."

"Would you two give me a hand, already?" Joel's voice interrupted.

They looked to where he had been holding the chain to the warehouse door, waiting for them with his usual impatience. "What, jealous, old man?" continued Jacket, unrelenting in teasing him for his age and skill. "You're gonna blind Robert's goons to death by reflecting the sunlight off your silver hair?"

"Enough, Jacket," said his aunt. Anytime they were outside the QZ, she would take to calling him by his nickname. Better to not let anyone unsavory know of their relationship, particularly since she was the one that did the talking most of the time.

Joel had been smart enough not to take the bait, and Jacket finally relented with a smile, not wanting to be too annoying, and tapped his shoulder, "Hey, just fucking with you. Good work."

His response was a smile and a, "Thanks."  _You too,_  Joel thought but didn't say. Or so Jacket liked to imagine.

Aunt Tess interjected, walking towards the closed door, "C'mon, boys, the docks are this way. Let's do this."

Joel pulled the chain enough for them to crouch past before following suit, quickly hiding behind a persevering wall of bricks waist-high. They overlooked the docks where guards seemed to litter every position.  _They're separated,_  observed Jacket.  _Good. Makes it easy to isolate and kill._

"There's our boy," said his aunt, suddenly breaking him from his predatory observation and pointing to where Robert stood conversing with one of his thugs. "That cocky son of a bitch."

_Haven't seen that fuck-ugly mug in a long time,_  he thought to himself.  _Ew, he even has a disgusting fucking ponytail. What is it with everyone having ponytails, anywa-_  He suddenly felt a sharp pain on his ear where, once again, his aunt flicked him. His mask muffled the small yelp of pain, and he hissed, " _Ow, goddammit! What did I do this time?!_ "

"Language. You were mumbling to yourself again."

_God-fucking-dammit. I can't even swear in my fucking thoughts._ Suddenly, he did a double take on his aunt to see if he accidently talked to himself again. He sighed in relief. "Sorry, A.T."

"Would you two stop playing mom and child so we can go wrap this up?"

"Whatever," mumbled Jacket, still slightly indignant at being treated like a child. He was seven-fucking-teen, he's killed more people than the number of his goddamn age with a bowie knife he'd gotten so attached to that he named it, and he still can't swear? It's not like it'd make him any worse of a person.

"Alright, then, Texas. Let's wrap this up," she repeated.

It took only two minutes of harvesting followed by gunshots when a fight broke out between them and the last three guards before they'd finally cleared them all out. As soon as Harvest found its way into the brain of the final guard that was previously in a scuffle with Joel, the two adults rushed to the door to Robert's office. Jacket fell behind when he looted bullets on the ground next to his latest victim but quickly caught up.

Joel had been to eager to catch Robert that he hadn't considered the possibility of him remaining in his office, despite hearing the gunshots. No one had, so when he opened the door and, to his mild surprise, revealed Robert and cause him to shoot at them, one managed to graze Jacket's side. A surprised shout erupted from beneath his skull-mask, "You FUCK!"

Nothing had infuriated her quite like the sight of her only nephew shot and in pain. Quickly, she pulled Jacket to her side behind cover, "Big mistake, Robert! You're fucking dead, you son of a bitch!"

"Fuck you, bitch!" When her head peeked out, more shots rang out, and she quickly retracted it into cover. "Get back! Get the fuck back!" They heard the click of an empty gun, followed by, "Go fuck yourself!" and the weapon flew through the doorway.

"He's running!"

Joel and Tess were surprised when, despite his injury, Jacket burst forth into the room right past them, and with grace slid across the table. "C'mere, you little shit! You owe me a fucking bandage!"

Thanks to his impressive speed, the two adults could only glance at his disappearing form as he ran into a room, and they would proceed to follow. Suddenly, they found him standing casually outside a window with his arms crossed, staring at something. The sound of rattling metal came from his direction. They both vaulted through the window and stood beside Jacket to see Robert struggling to rattle the metal fence door open.

He must have realized the futility for he backed away and turned to face them.

"Well, hello, Robert," said Aunt Tess with a little more than a hint of anger in her voice.

Robert chuckled nervously, "Tess. Joel." He met Jacket's pale eyes and found himself unnerved by the mask, though he hid it as well as he hid his nervousness. "Jacket. Long time, no see. You've grown. A lot."

"Have I, now?" His tone was almost amused.

Robert chuckled falsely, "Like you wouldn't believe. You've grown real strong, I can tell. Your aunt's been feeding you well."

He had no idea how right he was. "What a fucking flatterer you are, huh? Sure know how to make a lady blush." A nervous smile and nod was his answer. "And yes, I  _have_  been training, too, why thanks for noticing."

"'Course, of course. Sorry about the, um..." he gestured to his bleeding side. "No hard feelings, right?"

He looked down to see the skin had split and blood trickled slowly into the waist of his jeans. "What - this? Oh, don't worry, I've had worse. I know you didn't mean anything by it."

"Good, good. I'm glad," he muttered with slow nods.

Jacket feigned confusion and recollection as he motioned his hand between him and Aunt Tess. "But, I, uh, I gotta ask. Was I wrong in hearing you calling my aunt a bitch? Cause  _that_  is not so easily forgiven, I'm afraid."

The sound of steel scraping against the ground was curt behind Jacket as Aunt Tess picked up a steel pipe. It caused Robert to suddenly sprint past them, or at least attempt to. It was an attempt cut short when she swung the pipe at his legs, possibly hard enough to break it, and he landed on his face, "Ah… Goddammit!"

She crouched beside his pained, squirming form, and it was clear she had no interest in playing games, "You've made a big fucking mistake, Robert."

"Look, whatever it is you heard, it ain't true, okay? I-I just want to say-"

She halted his words with a fist to his gut. Robert sputtered and groaned. "The guns! Where are they?!"

"Wait, wait!" He sighed, holding his gut, "Alright, but… you gotta hear me out, okay? It's, it's complicated… Now, I-" A swift and sudden kick to the face from Joel silenced his excuses, "F-fuck!" The gruff texan gripped his shoulder and arm, straightening it out against the ground and twisting it, "Ah, Stop! Stop! Stop!"

She stood up, circling Robert, "Jacket, honey, you wanna help Joel out?"

"You got it, A.T."

A rasp of Harvest's steel sent shivers up Robert's spine and he began struggling against Joel's iron grip frantically, if futilely. The feeling of Jacket's bowie knife a few inches short below the elbow and, "Quit squirming!" from the kid himself stilled him. "Now, be a polite gentleman and answer the pretty lady." The gas mask distorted his low voice with an odd yet menacing baritone.

She stopped to crouch beside his head again, "Where are our guns?"

"Okay, okay!" Robert took a second to breath, perhaps to calm his nerves or to still the pain somehow. "I sold 'em."

A dangerous silence followed before, "...Excuse me?"

"I didn't have much of a choice, I owed someone-"

"You owed us!" she growled, gripping his ugly ponytail and forcing him to look her in the eyes, "I say you bet on the wrong horse."

"I-I just need more time. Just gimme a week."

"Y'know, I might've done that if you hadn't tried to fucking kill me."

"C'mon, it wasn't like-"

"And not to mention… you  _shot_  my  _nephew_?" she interrupted, smiling falsely with fury underlying it. The act didn't last long and she scowled, "You shot my only fucking family, you motherfucker!" In her anger she could not stop her fist from smashing into Robert's face.

"Fuck! Fuck! I'm sorry!"

"Aunt Tess!" Jacket exclaimed firmly. She faced him, and just like that her anger subsided. "It's alright."

Locking eyes and staring, she shook her head, "No. It's pretty fucking far from alright."

He smiled beneath his gas mask, unable to be even the slightest bit annoyed at her protectiveness of him. "I just don't want you hurting your hand on account of him."

"Look, I said I'm sorry, okay!? What did you-"

"Shut. Up. Who has our guns?" she demanded.

There was a curt pause. "I can't."

_Dumb fucking move, Ponytail._

"J-Just gimme a couple - AGH!" A sickening snap was heard when Joel's patience wore a bit too thin, breaking his arm.

"I'd answer, Robert." Jacket commanded with an eerie calm. "Or I'll take each of your fingers for every refusal. Understand?"

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Okay!"

"Good. Now, we've been polite here, considering. So please, be a dear and reciprocate the courtesy, if you will."

"It's the fireflies," he cried out in desperation. Surprise froze all three of them. "I owed the fireflies." He was panting in pain and fear.

"What?" Even Aunt Tess' anger had given way to disbelief.

"Look… They're basically all dead," started Robert. "We can just… go in there, finish 'em off. We get the guns! What d'ya say?"

_Bargaining won't save you now, you stupid shit._

"Come on. Yeah, fuck those fireflies. Let's go get 'em."

They all rose to their feet and, true to Jacket's presumption, his words did little to save him when his aunt said, "That is a stupid idea."

Not a single beat after, she unloaded two bullets straight into his face, and the loud gunshots left Joel and Tess lost, shaking their heads. Soon after, she remembered her nephew's wound, "Hey, come here."

"Hmm?" he asked, despite doing what she said.

She lifted his shirt up and wiped the blood with her hand to inspect the wound. Thankfully, it was only a graze and would do nothing to hinder his abilities. She sighed in relief, "Fuckin' Robert." She pulled out a bandage and moved to wrap it around his waist before he suddenly stopped her. "What?"

"It's not even worth using a bandage on, A.T, come on. Save it for when I actually get shot in the arm or stomach or something. If anything, it'd be of more use if I wrapped it around my hands. God knows I'll be dealing out some punches and kicks when we go after your guns, so I'd rather my hands heal as quickly as possible."

She conceded with a slow nod, "Yeah… Still, I don't like the thought of you bleeding."

"Look, just… I don't know, check Robert's pockets or something. Guy owes me a bandage, after all." And so she did, finding one in his back pockets, and she proceeded wrap his waist. "Thanks."

She spoke quietly, almost whispering, "No need to thank me, Jackie."

He smiled, "I know, but I like to." She could not help but return the smile.

Most of them time, Joel would be shaking his head and mumbling to himself about how corny and 'chickflick'-y it was, but now he couldn't help but have to repress a smile that threatened to form. How could he be annoyed at their display of familial fondness and affection? After what he lost…

"Why didn't you wrap them at Joel's apartment?" Tess asked, snapping him out of his wandering to see Jacket wrapping his hands with bandages.

"Honestly? I forgot. Was in kind of a hurry and I didn't want Joel to leave us behind if I took too long."

Joel scoffed, "Like she'd let me."

He grinned, "What's wrong? Afraid the lioness'll maul you if you don't treat me well?"

"More like feed me my own insides," he mumbled. "She ain't no lioness, a lioness got nothin' on 'er." Tess could be truly fierce when it came to her precious Jackie.

Speaking of, he noticed the kid stared forward in thoughtfulness. Suddenly, two words breezed past his lips, "That bitch..."

Normally, she'd have reprimanded him for his profanity, but now she was only curious, being out of ideas on what to do, herself. "What's wrong?"

"That's why Marlene was looking for Robert. They had a deal going on, with  _your_  guns."

"So I would guess," muttered Joel. He then sighed, all of them left with no idea on how to retrieve the guns. "Well, now what?"

"We go get our merchandise back," she answered, though her tone betrayed that she knew what to do as little as they did.

"How?"

"I don't know, we… explain it to them."

Suddenly, a lightbulb lit up inside Jacket's head, "Wait, maybe we don't need to do anything."

"What're you talking about?" asked Joel.

"Think about it, if Marlene's looking for Robert, maybe she still is. Maybe, we wait and see if she comes to us, thinking she's coming to Robert."

The two adults traded glances, Tess' was of pride and Joel's was of surprise. "I got nothing else," he said. Tess agreed wordlessly. He looked towards Jacket, "Alright, then, let's wait. Where're you thinkin'?"

"Right here's good," said a feminine voice behind the adults, causing them to snap their heads to the source with their hands on their guns. Jacket flourished Harvest from its scabbard and primed his legs for rushing his prey. "Easy, it's just me," the voice placated.

His grip tightened on Harvest's hilt as he realized who was before him. He recognized her face from the wanted posters all around the QZ.

Marlene. And she held her bleeding side in one hand and a gun in the other.

Joel gestured towards her, facing Tess as he said, "There you go - queen Firefly."

Tess' greeting was curt and rigid, "Marlene."

"Tess," was the response. Jacket moved to stand beside his aunt, Harvest sheathed. Marlene frowned, "Care to tell me why an underground fighter is running with the two of you?"

Jacket betrayed no emotion from his eyes, they remained blank and staring. Tess seemed surprised, "You know him?"

"I've heard of him. The Son of Samedi's not exactly the most subtle figure." She must have noticed his tense posture and staring, for she smiled, "That's a look my enemies shoot me. You don't like the queen of Fireflies for what she does?"

He said nothing, only staring before Tess interjected, "You're not looking too hot." It was clear only to Jacket that she wished to spare him the misery of having to talk to the woman he despised.

She had to force her eyes to Tess before she slowly processed her spoken words, and glanced down at her wound. Hers was clearly worse than the graze Jacket got. Marlene began looking around, "Where's Robert?" Tess stared with an amused smirk before walked aside to reveal the dead corpse of Marlene's search with a gesture of her arm. The Firefly chuckled coldly, shaking her head as if it was a simple inconvenience. She then looked up to lock gazes with his aunt, "I needed him alive."

_Tough shit._

"The guns he gave you? They weren't his to sell. And I want them back."

"It doesn't work like that, Tess."

"The hell it doesn't," she said in a cold tone, and Jacket stepped forward slowly, hand reaching for Harvest's hilt.

Marlene did not miss this. She looked towards him and wondered why he hated her so. It couldn't have been a product of propaganda. His dislike seemed too… personal. Who was he? She wondered. However, she spent little time thinking on the subject and she turned back to Tess, "I paid for those guns. You want 'em back? You're gonna have to earn 'em."

Jacket stepped forward with his bowie knife freed of its prison, the sound causing her to reflexively point her gun at him. "You'd better do as she says if you wanna keep those wanted posters of your face up and plenty for the next couple of years."

"That's enough, Jacket." Joel stepped between Marlene and him with a stern look. Jacket only glared, and the two entered a staring contest. Neither wavered nor broke from the clash of wills before Tess' voice of reason finally broke the two out of their challenge.

"He's right, Jacket. Leave it be."

"Jacket, huh? That's your given name?"

"By myself," he responded coldly, eyes now on hers.

Tess asked, "How many cards are we talking about?"

Marlene scoffed, "I don't give a damn about ration cards." A curt stare paused her words, "I need something smuggled out of the city. You do that - I'll give you your guns back and then some."

Tess turned back to glance at the two guys. Joel stepped forward, "How do we know you got 'em? Way I hear it, the military's been wiping you guys out."

A false smile plastered h Marlene's face, "You're right about that."

At the look in her eyes, Jacket thought to himself,  _Admitting that's gotta hurt more than the bullet in her side._

"I'll show you the weapons."

Just as Jacket moved to speak his reluctance to trust her, they all heard a door being broken in inside the building, followed by, "Search the area!"

Marlene's voice was almost panicked, "I gotta move. What's it gonna be?"

They all glanced between each other, and Jacket knew they had little time to decide, even less for him to complain and disagree. So he held his peace, and followed when his aunt said, "I wanna see those guns."

"Follow me," said Marlene, and they did. She led them through an alleyway and to a large pile of crates that reached the ladder of a fire escape. After climbing up it, they jogged up the stairs to arrive at the roof of the building. Jacket was third in line, while Tess was last, and their jogs slowed to a sudden halt as the sound of an explosion rang throughout the sky. In the distance, smoke rose like clouds of ashen black amongst the buildings.

"Holy shit," said Tess with something akin to shock in her voice. She asked Marlene, "Is that your people?"

"What's left of them. Why do you think I'm turning to you guys."

_Fucking flattering, this one,_  he thought about her words as he stared at the smoke. Suddenly he heard from his side, "Your second one today. Now you can brag to your alpha male friends that you bagged two redheads."

He shrugged and met her eyes, mumbling "If you're gonna do it, might as well do it big. Might just sugarcoat it a bit and say they were twins."

Tess snorted, shaking her head, "So stupid."

"What, me or my jokes?"

"Both."

Jacket chuckled. "Thanks. You really know how to help boost my self-esteem, you know that?"

Marlene shot Tess an odd glance, unused to seeing the woman with such humor and happiness. She was usually far more taken to keeping up an act similar to that of a stern businesswoman (At least towards Marlene). It was… bizarre to see her jesting as she currently was, and so carefree. Who was this… Jacket, to her?

"This way," she interrupted with, and the two suddenly turned serious before following her down the sloped roof and in through the windows.

They continued through the building and Tess asked, "You'll survive?"

"I'll live, don't worry. You won't lose your guns."

The exit of the building placed them beneath a bridge, and Marlene abruptly hid behind one of the crates, prompting them to follow. She peeked from behind cover, "Hold up. Soldiers." She gestured her head across the water to the other side beneath the bridge, where a guard stood pacing in front of a door. "That's the way out, the door under the bridge."

Joel seemed reluctant, an opinion which he voiced, "I ain't a big fan of these odds."

"We can sneak by them," suggested Marlene. She followed with, "Even though I know that's not your style."

"Not ours, no," agreed Tess. "But it is Jacket's."

Marlene's curiosity only grew, "Son of Samedi, or Jacket? I prefer the latter - way quicker to say." Jacket's cold glare turned to her. She seemed annoyed, "I need something to call you. I'd rather  _you_  decide what that is. So, what do I call you?"

"You don't," was the curt answer.

She sighed, "Jacket it is, then."

His glare only adhered to her before Tess suddenly ordered, "Move up. Jacket, you take point."

His voice was yet rigid, though he did as she said. "You got it, A.T." Four military officials were casually strolling about and chatting away uselessly, though their conversations were cut short and lives were harvested, all with the assistance of Joel, who took out one of the four, and caved in the head of the last guard that patrolled under the bridge with a metal pipe he'd earlier picked up.

Marlene quietly commented to Tess about his skill with Harvest, and his speed and stealth, though Jacket heard it as well as his aunt did despite the distance. Sharpening them naturally  _and_  with supplements helped immensely, and his hearing had become a vital tool for survival.

Tess gave a curt answer, with pride underlying her tone, before they all made their way down the stairs and through the door. As soon as they did, she and Jacket quickly blocked the door with a metal locker before following Marlene and Joel. After walking through several buildings quickly, all while ignoring the annoying bitch on the fucking speakers that whined about " _If anyone harbours blah blah blah, I'm a loud, annoying bitch who clearly loves her own voice more than her boyfriend, blah blah blah..._ " That is, in fact, all Jacket ever heard from the woman.

His aunt glanced back at him with a stern glare, and he realized he was talking to himself again. He smiled sheepishly underneath his mask and shrugged.

They'd arrived in a kitchen when Marlene struggled to open a door and had to request Joel's aid. "Joel, gimme a hand with this."

Marlene had been leaning on the door and fell to her knees when he opened it. Jacket walked past him when he tried helping her to her feet. Rapid footsteps behind him caught his attention, and Jacket caught the wrist holding an arcing knife aimed between his shoulder blades. He found himself staring at a redheaded girl, younger than he was, struggling in his grasp. His other hand clasped her throat with an iron grip and lifted her off her feet against the wall. Their eyes met - his hard, pale eyes staring into her fearful, emerald pair.

Her sputtering was drowned out by Marlene's command, "Let her go, she's with me!"

Quickly, Jacket complied and allowed the girl to fall on her knees before him, though not before his dextrous hands skillfully, and discreetly, swiped the switchblade from her hands. She hadn't noticed, too desperate to catch her breath. When she did, she exclaimed with new air in her lungs, "Motherfucker!"

"Hey!" his aunt almost yelled at the girl. "Watch your tongue."

Now Marlene was  _really_  curious about their relationship. Lovers, perhaps? He did sound fairly young, and the Son of Samedi was renowned for having exceptional skill despite his young age. So maybe not. Perhaps her relation was more maternal than anything. It  _would_  explain her protectiveness. But that would mean… It couldn't be… No. Impossible.  _He died along with his mother and father._  She shook her head from foolish and hopeful thoughts.

"Pleasure meeting you too," he said in a cold voice, though his eyes merely focused on the knife in his hands.

"You're recruitin' kind of young, aren't you?" said Joel in a quiet voice.

"She's not one of mine."

The girl was now on her feet and staring expectantly at him, though anger and nervousness was also in her eyes. The latter no doubt owing to his fierce, terrifying mask. "You plan on giving it back, asshole?" His own eyes flicked to hers and his fingers rotated the knife to hold the grip to her. She brusquely took it, eyes never faltering. Not until her eyes found Marlene's wounded figure did her glare break off and she folded the switchblade, "Oh, shit." She helped her to a seat. "What happened?"

"Don't worry, this is fixable." She sat on a stool and faced the girl. "I got us help." The girl glanced behind her, at them, and frowned when her eyes landed on Jacket. "But I can't come with you."

She turned to Marlene again, not knowing what to say as her hesitance took over. "Well… then I'm staying."

"Ellie, we won't get another shot at this."

_Ellie. That's her name, huh?_

Too focused on her name, Jacket failed to realize what Joel did in Marlene's words. "Hey - we're smuggling her?"

Jacket's eyebrows creased into a frown.

"There's a crew of fireflies that'll meet you at the Capitol Building."

"That's quite the distance," he commented. His aunt voiced her agreement.

"You're capable, I'd imagine." Or were the rumors of his skill all bullshit? "I know  _they_  are," she continued, glancing at Joel and Tess. "You hand her off, come back, and the weapons are yours."  _What exactly did you mean with 'and then some',_  he intended on asking, but Marlene unknowingly answered his unspoken question, "Double what Robert sold me."

His eyes widened, and the two adults' interest was, without doubt, piqued. The guns themselves were worth a hefty price, though not too much. But  _double_? That was the deal of a century, considering all they had to do was drop this girl - Ellie - off.

"Speaking of which," Tess said, "where are they?"

Marlene answered, "Back in our camp."

She scoffed, glancing back at her two partners before facing her again, "We're not smuggling shit until I see them."

"You'll follow me," Marlene offered - more like said. "You can verify the weapons, I can get patched up."

"The fuck she will," Jacket growled, surprising her with the sudden aggression.

"Jacket, it's fine!" she placated quickly yet firmly. "I trust her." At his stare, she corrected, "I trust her  _enough_. I'll go."

_Because trusting her worked out well for my mom, didn't it?_

Marlene stared at him for a small while before pointing towards Ellie, "I'm telling you now.  _She's_  not crossing to that part of town." A pause silenced the room. "I want Joel and Jacket to watch over her."

Suddenly, all three mentioned erupted into protests, Jacket mainly not wanting to leave his last family in the hands of Marlene again. Joel's protests were short, and Ellie's were silenced by the Firefly. "Ellie..."

The girl sighed, "How do you know them?"

"I was close with Joel's brother, Tommy, and Tess' sister, Annabelle. Both Fireflies." Jacket froze and his fists tightened. His aunt subtly placed her hand on his back comfortingly, and he somehow managed to calm himself. Marlene missed it. "They were both good people. And they said I could trust them," she continued, motioning her head to Tess and Joel.

"And what about thick-skulled, over there?"

_Thick-skulled? Really?_

"Him… I've only heard rumors. Son of Samedi, apparently one of the best underground fighters. Or so I've heard. He hasn't disappointed so far, from what I've seen."

"Guess that explains the bandages on his arm." Ellie stared at him with an ambiguous expression, "And his monster-fucking-grip." She helt her throat, "That hurt like hell."

"Sorry," he said, "But you were basically about to castrate me with a fucking switchblade." He felt his aunt pinch his back, and he bit down his yelp of pain.  _Fuck! I keep fucking forgetting! Sorry!_

She let him go and turned to Joel, "Look, just take her to the north tunnel and wait for me there."

"Jesus Christ," Joel began quietly.

"She's just cargo, Joel. 'Sides, you got Jacket to keep you company."

"Oh, joy."

As a response, he casually flipped him the bird, before quickly lowering his finger when his aunt glanced back at him, staring at her innocently with an equally innocent smile hidden beneath his mask. Ellie wasn't even given the chance to argue, Marlene warning that there was no more time, and she remained silent after that. "Now go with them," she said, gesturing to Joel and Jacket.

As Joel and Ellie made their way outside, Jacket leaned in and whispered to his aunt, "Be safe, and don't take long." She smiled at him and Jacket turned to Marlene. "She's better be in one piece and breathing at the end of the day. Or so help me god, I'll butcher every last Firefly and hand you over to the military."

The Firefly leader regarded him with interested eyes, and realized soon he wasn't bluffing. It did little to intimidate her, however. "Duly noted."

After that, he left the two alone.

* * *

**A/N: And Ellie's now into play. How will Jacket and Ellie's relationship unfold? Will they find true love? Will it all crumble into dust? Or will he commit murder-suicide when he snaps from so many fucking puns? Find out next time, on Dragonballs Deep!**

**...**

**That was a stupid joke.**

**This chapter was shorter, but it had different purposes. It was to show a tiny bit of the OCs background, and the relationship between Jacket, Tess, and Joel. It will be explored further in the future with interactions and flashbacks. Another purpose of this chapter was to advance the story (obviously) and to introduce Ellie. Next chapter will MAYBE**   **feature a flashback (I haven't decided if I should do it so soon), and is guaranteed to feature interactions between Jacket and Ellie (it's inevitable, really). All while exploring the personality of Jacket himself.**

**See y'all next chapter.**


	3. The Window

Outside, he found Joel and Ellie staring at the dead bodies of three Fireflies, as the tale was told by the insignia banded around their arms. Jacket strode up to each of their bodies before his hands scoured through their pockets for anything of use. He found few bullets of use, as most were for assault rifles he didn't even have. Thankfully, he did find a couple of bullets for his pistol, but only two. Their pendants, he left on them. Useless.

"Whoa..." muttered the redheaded girl in quiet surprise. "I heard all the shooting, but… What happened?"

"The Fireflies," answered Joel. "Same thing's gonna happen to us if we don't get off the street."

"You're the pro. I'm just following you," he heard her say.

"Stick close to Jacket," he ordered, pointing at the aforementioned. "Don't leave his sight."

"You got it."

She did as commanded, before Jacket suddenly said, "Stay in front of me. I'll watch our backs. Joel will show the way." His voice was rigid and she realized he hadn't taken a liking to her.

"You got it," she mumbled. As they heard the dumb bitch on the speakers again, Jacket groaned. At hearing him, she commented, "Yeah, she gives me a headache, too."

_Just what the fuck is she playing at?_  he thought suspiciously, as Joel said, "Down here," leading them under a short tunnel running along the left side of a building.

"C'mon, keep up," he continued urging, now having taken to a jogging pace. They were advanced along the front of the building where a large fence connected by several pillars shielded them from the military's eyes.

"I am," she answered, tone indignant. Jacket remained quiet and jogged at an identical pace, forcing Ellie to hurry up as well.

They passed by an open fence door that led them into a large area behind the building, and she asked, "Where are we going?"

Joel pointed to the fire escape on the side of the building to their left. "Up there, that'll get us to the north tunnel."

"How are we supposed to reach that?"

He sighed, "Just gimme a minute."

He walked off to grab the usual dumpster they used to climb up there. While waiting, Ellie said to Jacket, "By the way. Um..." Embarrassment showed on her expression, "Sorry about before. Y'know, calling you a motherfucker."

He stared, "Don't worry about it."

She smiled in relief before, "So… I don't get it."

He looked at her with suspicion and confusion, "What?"

"What are you called? Joel and, what was her name…?" she asked herself, wandering off. "...Tess, I think? They both called you Jacket, but Marlene said you were an underground fighter named… 'Son of...' something."

"Samedi," he lended.

She looked at him with confusion. "What the hell is a Samedi?"

"Who," he corrected. He was relieved to see Joel pushing the dumpster, wanting the conversation to be over as soon as possible.

"Well, who is he? Or she, whatever." The absence of an answer made her sigh with frustration, a frustration that only worsened when she realized the game he'd be playing. The game of silence. Her  _favorite_  game, she thought sarcastically. And just like that, any need for cordiality crumbled like the buildings outside the QZs.

Jacket's eyes stole a glance at her frowning face. And just like that, despite his distrust and suspicion, no matter how justified it may have been… He felt guilty, and looked at the ground in hidden shame.  _I never got how Joel and Aunt Tess could act so cold to people and not feel like shit. I just don't have that switch I can turn on and off._

He felt guilty, because that's who he was. Not because he had a  _big, kind heart_ , like Aunt Tess says, or because he's got a heart of gold. But because he has a soft heart. A weak heart. He can't even stand by his beliefs and instincts with courage and conviction. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't wish the shitty feeling away. He has a coward's heart, and he knows it. Why else can't he look another person in the eyes without a fucking gas mask to hide his face?

The sound of metal clanging together as Joel pushed the dumpster against the metal beams of the fire escape snapped him out of his abashed reclusion. Joel climbed up, and Ellie and Jacket followed respectively.

As they arrived inside the upper floors, Ellie asked, "This tunnel. You use it to smuggle things?"

"Yep," Joel said, his tone telling Jacket they were equally uninterested in talking to her. Though his reluctance was likely for another reason entirely.

"Like illegal things?"

"Sometimes."

Her tone betrayed her smile when she asked, "You ever smuggle a kid before?"

"No, that's a first." After a short pause, Jacket was mildly surprised when Joel asked, "So what's the deal with you and Marlene, anyways?"

She sighed, "I don't know. She's my friend, I guess."

Jacket scoffed to himself, though the subtle jerk of her head towards his direction let him know his just-loud-enough mistake. And again, he felt like an asshole. Even if he didn't mean to sound like one.

Joel's tone was amused initially, "Your friend, huh? You're friends with the leader of the Fireflies. What're you, like twelve?"

"She knew my mom," Ellie answered, sounding a little annoyed. "And she's been looking after me."

Jacket interjected from behind, "You won't last long, then."  _Wouldn't surprise me if she was the reason your mom died,_  he thought bitterly, but kept ever silent.

"What the hell does that mean?" she asked, turning her head back to look at him. At his silence, she just shook her head with a frown, "Whatever." As if knowing what he was thinking, Joel glanced back to Jacket and gave him a nod, a nod that Ellie missed as she continued. "Oh, I'm fourteen, by the way. Not that that has anything to with… anything."

Looking forward, Joel persisted his line of inquiry, though hesitantly, owing to Jacket. "Where are your parents?"

"Where are anyone's parents? They've been gone a long, long time."

Jacket cringed internally, his frustration and anger at himself only increasing with every second.  _She's probably never even met her parents and here I come along and say she's not going to last long. Jesus Christ, Jacket, think before you open your big fucking mouth._  Slowly and reluctantly, he realized he and Ellie had something in common, and felt an ache of sympathy in his chest for her.

"Hm. So instead of staying in school, you just decide to run off and join the Fireflies, is that it?"

It seemed she had taken her day's share of questions. "Look, I'm not supposed to tell you two why you're smuggling me if that's what you're getting at."

Suddenly, Joel's voice was colder than winter's winds. "You wanna know the best thing about my job? I don't gotta know why. Be honest with you, I could give two shits about what you're up to."

"Well, great," said Ellie in a neutral, generally friendly tone.

"Good."

"Wow," said Jacket suddenly, his humorous act returning. Both of them focused on him since he'd spoken few words. "The 'not-caring' from the both of you is just… god, it's so strong it's almost palpable," he mocked. "So convinced neither of you care."

Joel said nothing and looked forward again, and Ellie waved him away with a motion of her hand, "Whatever, bonehead."

"Good one," was the quick, ironic counter, and she sighed in frustration.

They arrived in the usual apartment. "This is it," said Joel, opening the door and walking inside. The two teenagers followed and he closed the door behind them. Suddenly, to Ellie's mild surprise, he jogged to the single couch, shouldering past Jacket and laid down on it.

"Oh, really," said Jacket with exasperation. "Come on, you  _really_ jogged just to get to it before me?"

"Mhm," he nodded with closed eyes.

Jacket sighed, "Screw you."

Ellie was confused for whatever reason. "What are you doing?" she asked like it was a big mystery or something.

"Performing yoga," Jacket quipped. "Fuck's it look like? Old bastard's hogging the couch."

"What the hell's a yoga," she asked, though her question went unheard.

"You had it last time," mumbled Joel without much care, as if humoring him more than anything.

"We're not taking out the fucking trash, J. It's a couch; you don't take turns lying on a couch."

The older man sighed, "So I got to it first. What's the problem?"

"Wha - are you… kidding me? What's the problem? Other than I killed almost fifty percent of Robert's goons?" No reaction from him. "Dude,  _jogging_ to get to that couch before me was more work than your lazy ass did to ice Robert's men compared to me." Joel frowned with a grunt. "C'mon, man, be merciful."

"Nope."

Ellie had been spectator to the two's exchange, finding it very amusing. She smiled to herself while suppressing a giggle. To be honest, she was amazed at how comfortable the two were, especially how comfortable Joel was with Jacket's humour. Sure, he wasn't happy about being insulted, but she could tell that had it been anyone else, he'd have broken their nose in.

Joel's tolerance to his humour had run dry and he no longer had interest to continue entertaining him, finally shutting his eyes. "Fine. Hope your shirt gets stuck on a door handle."

He shrugged his backpack off and caught it as it slid down his arms, walking over to one of the two seats facing out the window and sat on the one to the right, placing his legs on the sill. His backpack slid from his fingers to land gently on the right side of his armchair.

Ellie's eyes fastened to Joel's lying form, "Well, what am I supposed to do?"

"I am sure you will figure that out," Joel answered. Jacket stayed silent.

She slowly walked to where he was sitting, staring at Joel's arm before, "Your watch is broken." A gust of air puffed past Joel's lips. She sat down on the left armchair, placing her backpack at its side and pulling her legs up on the seat beside her. And so they sat in uncomfortable silence, staring out the window at the military barracks.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes passed and Joel's chest heaved slowly with sleeping breaths that Jacket said, "I wouldn't mention the watch again."

She looked at him, "Why not?"

There was a short silence. His eyes never left the window. "It's got history."

"Bad history, I'm guessing?" There were no words, but it was answer enough. Though his silence  _did_  unnerve in the slightest bit.

Funny.

His mask gave him an aura of cold ruthlessness, like he'd butcher you like cattle as soon as look at you if you ever thought to cross him. But the truth was, he was anything but. Inside, he was anxious. He hated being social, because in his eyes, there were so many things to think about that he never thought about, so many manners and gestures to keep check of. What to say, how to say it, when to say it, when to smile, when to laugh, and all that bullshit. (At least, that's how he thought it went.) He hated it.

But he wanted to say something, maybe apologize for being rude. But it was like the anxiety was pressuring him to both say something and keep quiet, like it was pulling him two different directions and ending up tearing his courage to speak in half. He still felt like shit for giving her the silent treatment and seeing her disappointed face. It was how he was. He could carve up his enemies and beat his ring opponents half-to-death, and yet he felt sorry for the smallest shit outside of those two things. His aunt kept insisting he had a good heart, but he never believed it.

How could someone with a good heart treat another person who's suffered through the loss of her parents, just as he had thanks to the Fireflies, the way he did? She wasn't even a bad kid, and still he distrusted her.

And all because of  _one_  bad experience.

"So..." she began, and he snapped back into reality. He was leaning the side of his head against his hand, staring in front of him. "How old are you?" His glance was mistaken for one of suspicion, and his following silence did little to deter her from the mistaken line of through. "Look," she said, and this time her annoyance showed in her voice, "I'm not sure why you distrust me, or what I did to-"

He interrupted her, "Nothing." She looked confused. He continued in a silent voice, "You've done nothing."

"So what's the problem? I'm…  _just cargo_ , after all." She said it mockingly, but he saw her face twist the slightest into a frown and realized it hurt her more than it should.

"No," he said, to her great surprise and widening eyes. "You're not cargo. You're anything but." She was speechless. Who wouldn't be? What should she say?  _Thanks?_  Was it even meant to be a positive thing? Owing to her silence, he knew she was confused about his meaning and he elaborated, "You're human. Flesh and blood. We all are. And more than that, you're - what, fourteen, you said? - a kid."

"Um… Yeah, I suppose."

He made a noise, and she couldn't tell if it was a chuckle or a scoff, and as he spoke his voice sounded low and like gravel. "Yeah… You're a kid. Maybe you're an innocent, pure soul too good for this world that wouldn't last a second outside the goddamned QZ… but that's a goddamn fantasy. Most probable thing would be that you're among the most vile and cruel little shits, like all kids are. A bully, a predator. Molded perfectly for this world… Either way… you're not…  _cargo_."

She could only stare in slight astonishment as a response to his little speech. "...I'm guessing there's a backstory to that," she quipped, or at least attempted to, but her voice betokened her astonishment. He sighed in exasperation at himself, suddenly aware he might have just revealed more than he should have. "What, someone hurt you?"

He scoffed suddenly, straightening from his hand, "Oh, please. I'm not some depressed fucking emo character in a comic or a book with your cliché sob-story background. There are no walls I put up to protect myself emotionally for you to break down."

He leaned back into his hand before she commented, "Wow. Is that why you're acting exactly like a character with a sob-story background who's put up walls to protect themselves emotionally?"

A curt pause was followed by a sigh from him, "I, um… I'm acting exactly like the archetype, aren't I?"

"I don't know what archetype means."

"Typical example."

She snorted in amusement, "Yeah, you kinda are." Her amusement was replaced by something - was it pity? Sympathy? She said, "Not to mention, it's pretty obvious someone hurt you."

He sighed again, before looking at her, "Well, it doesn't matter. I don't want any walls broken down. I already have loved ones."  _Even if it's only two._

There was a long silence broken by Ellie's words, "Alright, look… I hate being pushy, trust me, but I'm sorry for whatever may have happened to you… And I don't know why you distrust me, maybe because I probably remind you of the people who did that particular 'whatever', but-"

She could have stopped there, because he knew she was right. So far, he's seen not a hint of deception. And he's thought up no probable, barely even possible motivation for her to lie to him just to hurt him. In fact, all things, however few the things may be, have been pointing to her being a pretty decent person. But he can't trust her just because of that. He didn't dare. And even if he did, deep down he wouldn't believe it if the true her was staring him right in the face. His paranoia was too deep rooted.

"-whoever hurt you… I'm not that person. And I have no reason to  _be_  that person. So… I guess you don't have to trust me. Honestly, neither one of us'll lose sleep over it. I don't even know what's happened to you, so I can't really hold it against you. But… the least we could do is try to hold a conversation. Just to keep us from being bored out of our fucking minds. You don't have to trust me, I don't care. If I ask anything too personal, you don't need to answer. Just… don't stay silent. I hate awkward silences."

Again, a long silence filled the room, only Joel's heavy breathing resounding within it. Just when she thought she hadn't gotten through to him, he found himself saying, "Samedi is a mythical figure in… in haitian culture."

Not expecting the answer to the question she asked almost half an hour ago, she looked at him. And she realized, with ever increasing surprise, that he was apologizing in his own way for his rudeness. Or so she wanted to believe. He might just have been bored with the silence. She couldn't tell thanks to that fucking mask of his. "Haitian?"

"The, uh… nationality of Haiti. A country right, right between North and South America."

"Oh." She disguised her surprise. He sounded so… timid. Something she never expected from a famed underground fighter with a skull for a mask. As well as taking his earlier treatment of her into account? This was the last thing she expected.

"His name means  _Baron Saturday_  in french, and… the book had depictions of him." At her look, he explained, "The book that I read about Baron Samedi in. And… I kinda thought he looked, and sounded… badass. He's, um… He's what the haitians call a  _loa_. It's not exactly a god, but, but more of a spirit." He straightened his back; maybe he was getting eager to share knowledge and what he's read on. Probably didn't have that many other people that were interested.

It was kinda cute, she thought. At least, it might have been if not for his mask. Of course, she'd never admit it. "I, um, I don't really remember everything… but I think there were different families of these  _loa_. And Baron Samedi is from a family usually associated with the dead. And… because of that, he's usually depicted as having a skull for a head…" He seemed to drift off uncertainly.

_Loa; spirits. Not gods, spirits._  "Huh," she said. It might have come out pretentious, like she didn't care and faked interest. Truth was, it was exactly the opposite. It was alien news and fascinating all the same.

He shot her a glance and, unknown to her, blushed lightly in embarrassment. His voice sounded low and apologetic, "...Didn't meant to go on."

To his surprise, she hastily insisted otherwise, "Oh, no, no, no. I didn't mean it like that." She smiled. "It was… interesting. Really. So that's why you chose the name? Because of your skull-mask."

"...Yeah."

She nodded slowly, "So… Son of Samedi. That's, what, your ring name?"

He mimicked her previous gesture of the head, "Yeah."

_He really is shy. The most I'm getting out of him is one word responses._  Despite that, she persisted. "Hm. I can only guess why they call you Jacket," she said sarcastically, gazing over his leather jacket. "It's…" She remembered the red skeleton hand with a scythe in the middle, and the words they were placed atop of. "...different."

Jacket scoffed, "Edgier than my goddamn bowie knife is what it is."

At that, she actually bursted out in laughter, nodding all the while, "Yeah! Yeah, it kinda is." Admittedly, she was surprised he cracked a joke. It wasn't too long ago that he could barely talk to her.

Although his eyes remained on the sight outside the window, he saw in the corner of his eyes her laughing, and couldn't help the corners of his mouth twitching upwards into a smile. Suddenly, he was thankful she couldn't see. Because, again, his paranoia set in and he realized he'd let his guard down. His smile fell.  _I need to be careful. One slip of the tongue and I could put all three of us in danger. I don't trust these Fireflies any more than the military._  He already mentioned Harvest's existence, and despite her not noticing, he wasn't willing to take any chances.

"I'll admit, though," she said once her laughter settled down. "It  _is_ kinda awesome. I like it."

Jacket looked at her in surprise. He hadn't expected her to share his sentiment. He nodded slowly, "Yeah…It kinda is."

Hearing him parrot her words made her smile widen. "So… what's your real name." He looked at her once and she realized she was treading in a personal territory. "Okay." She accepted. "Don't need to answer. But I need something to call you. Is it okay with you if I call you Jacket?"

"…Suppose. If you want." He tried sounding like he didn't care, but he knew his hesitance ruined that illusion. Truthfully, he was surprised she asked for his permission. She had little in common with Marlene; not nearly so presumptuous to think that she had the right to call him by his name. Instead, she actually asked if she could call him, not  _what_  to call him.

"You never answered my question, by the way." He stayed silent, letting his confusion be known. "How old are you? I mean, you know already that  _I'm_ fourteen."

A short pause was followed by, "Seventeen."

Her eyes widened, "Seventeen?" She didn't bother hiding her surprise. "What, did you enter puberty at five?"

Suddenly, against his attempts at keeping his guard up, he laughed. His shoulders shook as the pleasant, merry sound left him, bringing about a grin from Ellie. When his laughter faded, he answered, "Surprised?"

"Yeah, kinda. I mean, you sure as shit don't sound like it. But maybe that's because of the mask." She stared. "Still, you're a bit big for a seventeen year old." At his stare, she mended with a deadpan voice, "I don't mean fat, I mean… muscular, I guess."

"Training."

She hummed. "I guess you're not called one of the best underground fighters without a reason?"

His reluctance to answer was not out of suspicion as it was before, but rather, out of shyness. He liked mock-boasting and bragging when joking with Aunt Tess and Joel, but he never meant any of it. Truth of the matter is that he never had any faith in his ability. He might have been quick and silent and smart, not to mention a master in hand-to-hand (including the use of Harvest), but he lacked initiative. Not because he was slow-minded - far from it. He lacked the confidence and self-esteem. A recipe for disastrous leaders and social catastrophes. Both of which is exactly what he was. It also killed any motivation he had for improving on skills he wasn't already an expert in. It's why he never bothered with his aim.

And it was also the reason he hesitated to answer. He wouldn't want to seem like an arrogant prick, for one, and he sure as shit wouldn't want to make a fool of himself after claiming he was a master in close quarters (no matter how unlikely it was that he'd fail), only to fail later. As such, he dared only to settle for shrugging, "You be the judge."

She smirked, "Being humble." He exhaled a gust of air out his nose, but gave no more reaction. "Is that what you do?" He glanced at her wordlessly. "How you survive? Underground fights?"

He nodded, "Yeah." He thwarted the sudden urge to continue, before deciding to anyways. "Also help Joel and Tess with their jobs. Took care of me, figured I'd repay the favor."

"Must be tough."

"Tough?"

She seemed to hesitate herself, suddenly uncertain if she'd make herself look like an idiot. Not because of what she was about to say, but because Jacket had that effect. Like she wanted to befriend him and avoid annoying him. "Yeah. I mean, you're seventeen. Can't imagine what it's like to have to grow up so fast. Fighting and killing, it's not exactly what every kid does."

He didn't know what to say, so he said nothing. Her sympathetic tone and expression made him… uncomfortable. It wasn't the sympathy itself that made him uncomfortable, but rather the doubt of whether she was being genuine or trying to falsely befriend him.  _But what if it is genuine?_  Simply imagining it warmed his heart, and he hoped it was true.

"Did you? Have to grow up fast?"

_An odd question. Or at least oddly articulated._  "I don't know."

She had enough to sense to know he didn't want to talk about it, so she queried no further. After that, they stayed silent for quite a bit. Thankfully, it was far from uncomfortable to Jacket's shock. Just how the hell does she manage to make him drop his guard so easily?

"How do you know him, anyways?" she asked, breaking the silence abruptly. He looked at her to see her looking back at where Joel was yet sleeping like a log.

"Joel?" She nodded as he joined her in staring at him. "Not entirely sure myself. Always been around."

"You guys seem comfortable with each other."

He looked at her. "What makes you think that?"

"Besides how you were talking to him when he took your couch?" She needed to say no more. He realized there was no convincing her that they weren't close. She seemed a bit too clever for that.

After a small while, he answered, "Friend. Close friend. Used to be scared of him as a kid. Not anymore. Never raised a hand against me; always helped if anything."

She knew he wasn't willing to trust her enough to elaborate further, so she directed her questions on the subject of the other smuggler. "What about Tess?"

"Same."

"That's it?" she asked with furrowed brows. " _Same?_ "

He shrugged, "It's the truth." It was anything but the truth. Aunt Tess was his world.

"Alright," she conceded with a shrug of her own. She looked back at Joel, "Man… I'm surprised we haven't woken him up."

"Him?" Jacket asked, gesturing his head towards him. Suddenly, he wasn't the shy kid anymore and his previous personality surfaced. He said in a deadpan voice, "Lazy fuck wouldn't wake up if someone sat on his face."

She laughed shortly, "Is he really lazy?"

"...No, not really. Just like fucking with him and calling him names. It's my humour. Dark and offensive. But, uh, I try not to overdo it."

"Huh. So… are you sure we won't wake him up with all the talking?" He turned his head halfway to look at her before suddenly taking his feet off the windowsill and standing up. He walked over to Joel's sleeping form on the couch and leaned down inches from his face. Ellie stared in confusion.

"Texans," he began, "are incestuous hillbillies." As soon as he finished the sentence, he whipped his head back up and raised his fists to enter a mock-fighting stance. Ellie laughed at him, and when there was no reaction from Joel, Jacket lowered his fists and said, "He's not waking up anytime soon."

Her laughter deteriorated into a giggling fit and he sat down again, before her amusement infected him into chuckling silently. She sighed when her amusement died down and stared out the window. The silence that followed that time wasn't interrupted by anything. Only the sound of Jacket pulling his cassette player out fifteen minutes in. He zipped open his bag and pulled out a cassette before feeding it into the Walkman.

"Woah!" she exclaimed in genuine amazement, staring down at the abundance of cassettes in his backpack. "Where-... How the hell did you find all these?" He didn't answer, only staring in hidden amusement at her reaction. "How many is that? Like, a hundred?"

"Thirty-seven to be exact."

"Jesus," she whispered. Her stare was fastened to the bushel of mixtapes, only to be broken by him zipping it shut. She looked disappointed for the smallest second.

"Wake me when it's time to go." She nodded.

Jacket weaved the headphones between the straps of his gas mask and placed them on his ears before his finger clicked the song to life.

Ellie leaned back and stared outside. She didn't notice his eyes lingering on her. He realized something frightening then. He realized he  _wanted_  to trust her. Her company had been nothing but enjoyable; despite his evasive and short answers, she continued to be persistent. And miraculously not in an annoying way. And somewhere deep down, he knew she felt the same. Why else would she show such patience and persistence? He couldn't fathom the reason why either one of them would feel that way. The thing is, he didn't care. He didn't want to care. The truth was, he was tired of being guarded. He wanted to take the leap of faith, to go out of his comfort zone. He wasn't his aunt or Joel.

He was Jack.

He decided then and there, he'd take a risk. He'd trust her. Maybe not with his life, but he decided he would trust her more than he trusted anyone other than his only two friends in the world. It wasn't much for other people, maybe, but it was  _everything_ to him. Even if  _she_  wouldn't realize it.

And why not? Why wouldn't he take this risk? He'd only know her for the next couple of hours. After that,  _adiós_. It's not like she was sticking around.

* * *

**A/N: There he is, absent his humor. Jacket seems drastically different when talking to strangers, doesn't he? The cause of his damn-near debilitating shyness will obviously be revealed as the story progresses. Let me know what you thought about him, his inner thoughts, and the stark contrast between his humorous act and true personality. Hoping it isn't too forced.**

**My thanks to all the reviewers showing their support.**

**Until next chapter.**


	4. The Real World

Jacket had fallen asleep shortly after his eyes closed, the classic's low volume soothing him like the lullabies he never recalled being sung to.

His nightmare had been a glaring contrast to the easing tunes of his Walkman.

He stood in the center of a black void, floating in its nothingness yet floating as if swimming in tar. No matter where he ran or how fast, nothing changed. His mask was now his head, a skull exuding embers from cracks like Cordyceps spores from ascocarps, his mouth a permanent grin lined with razor sharp teeth.

He called out for Aunt Tess first, then Joel second. He heard his own voice in the echo; corrupted and pale.

Suddenly the temple of his skull was shattered by a stray bullet from the dark void, yet in place of bone fragments, clusters of spores sprayed like blood and brains above him, drifting down like feathers to cover him in rapidly growing fungi until he couldn't move. He screamed for help before the plating burgeoned cover his mouth and nose. And finally, his panicked eyes searched for salvation, but found none as his vision was swarmed with fungal tendrils of darkness. Then he was blind.

For what felt like hours he felt only his beating heart and his frantic breaths vibrating in his ears.

Then cracks shattered the darkness, and dirty nails clawed away the plating before their fingers dug in to rip the fungi off completely, and suddenly he was staring his Aunt Tess in the face as she tore the infection to shreds with a fearless expression.

His hero.

He was himself again, flesh and breath and life. He couldn't voice his gratitude and love, so he only whispered her name. "Aunt Tess," he sighed out. She smiled motherly, hands cupping his cheeks, before pulling him into a hug. He cried into her chest while she held him.

"It's okay, Jackie," she whispered to him, her rare kisses planting on top of his head, "I got you. I got you." Then she pulled back, but he couldn't see her face for the blurring sheen of tears. "Get up, kiddo. You gotta get up. There's a long road ahead of you. Time to walk it."

"Wake up, Jacket."

His eyes opened as promptly as his hand gripped the one that shook his shoulders. He calmed seeing Joel looming over him with a soft look. His grip loosened.

"Wake up."

"Okay…" he mumbled. The big guy looked as tired as he did.

Jacket pushed himself off the armrests to his feet before stretching, his world one of bliss for moments. His hands reached up to rub the sleep from his eyes, but groaned when he realized he had done the same thing a million times before, and forgot he was wearing his mask. Joel chuckled at him before the amusement turned to something else he barely recognized from the man. Maybe concern? Probably caution.

"You mumble in your sleep," said a voice younger than he was used to. As both Joel and Jacket turned to look at the source, the latter remembered the past events of the day. Ellie sat with her legs up on her sofa chair and stared out the window to watch the rain spatter the glass and the pavement and buildings before turning to them.

_Shit,_  he thought.  _What the fuck did you say this time, Jack?_

He hoped she hadn't noticed his wary eyes because she specified her meaning, "Joel, I mean."

He sighed as Joel stared off, "Yeah, he has that habit."  _So I wasn't wrong in his apartment earlier. Something_ was  _bothering him, probably still is._

"I hate bad dreams," she commented, turning back to the rain. Jacket sat back down and joined her eyes in watching the drops race down. Joel returned to his couch.

_Don't know anyone who likes them._

"Do you get them too? Often, I mean?"

The question damn near startled him, as if to show how unused he was to casual conversation with strangers. He hated his own reaction.

He couldn't see him, but Jacket felt Joel's eyes staring in their direction. He couldn't blame him; Jacket barely believed it himself. He managed to not completely push someone away out of fear or paranoia while the big guy was sleeping. "No."

She shrugged. "Fair enough. You know," Ellie started, swinging her feet down to the ground and leaning closer to the window, "I've never been this close before." He got nervous then, but before she could look past the mask and see it in his eyes she continued, "To the outside."

_Oh._

"Look how dark it is."

Joel walked up to his side just as her last word was uttered, placing his hand on Jacket's chair as if a guardian or something. That's how he always knew Joel gave a shit about him, no matter how much he pretended he didn't at times, because someone like him  _had_  to keep watch over Jacket. He couldn't help himself, not with instincts like that screaming at him. But Jacket had to let him know he made a decision, that it wasn't Ellie's annoying persistence but his own choice in the matter. So he answered, "Gets hell of a lot darker some nights."

Joel's eyes wandered down to him, telltale signs of confusion showing in his bearded jaw loosening ever so slightly and his eyes hazel searching for an answer. He tried relaying reassurance in his own pale eyes, and it seemed to have come through as the slightest of nods bobbed Joel's head, and he walked off behind the two teenagers.

"You get out there a lot?" she gestured to the outside.

"When I have to."

She paused longer than normal, and he could tell something lingering was on her mind, "Can't be any worse out there. Can it?"

She looked to him for answers – or perhaps even comfort to abate her fears – and it made him uncomfortable.

Joel's impatience saved him as the man couldn't help the question that came out of his mouth in a demanding volume, "What on earth do the fireflies want with you?"

Right then and there, Jacket was no longer immersed in his musings with the girl, but with curiosity became analyzing of her. He considered an answer to her question while awaiting one from her to Joel's, noticing her hesitance all the while.

Like a savior of the socially anxious, the apartment door opened and called everyone's attention to it.

"Hey," said Aunt Tess.

Without his eyes leaving his aunt, Jacket accorded Ellie an answer he found more appropriate than anything direct, "Like I said… Some nights get a hell of a lot darker."

"Shit…" She sounded dismayed as he placed the Walkman in his backpack.

_Aaand the guilt is back. Great._

"Sorry it took so long," Aunt Tess said as the door closed behind her. Joel gave her a nod of greeting and Jacket stood and walked over to her, leaving him and Ellie together.

"You're back," Jacket said, his eyes scrutinized her body for injuries, "Are you hurt?"

She smiled. "No, I'm good." The smile left her quickly though. He didn't like it. Felt like he was awaiting bad news. "How're you doing?"

That's… not what he expected. "Um… Fine, I guess."

Aunt Tess glanced behind him for a moment, "No trouble?"

He looked to where her eyes wandered and saw Ellie staring out the window again, and he understood. "No trouble."

She seemed surprised, but then so was he. Regardless, she took his word for it and they both walked over to the join the other pair.

"How was the trip?" Joel asked.

"Eventful. Soldiers fucking everywhere."

Jacket took the opportunity as he often did. "Must've been a hell of an orgy. Bet they got creative with the pistols and flashlights, right?"

She seemed more deadpan than amused, despite Ellie's giggling, "You're a riot, you know that?"

"I'll be here all day."

"Lucky us," commented Joel dryly.

"Dude, that's disgusting," said the young girl with amusement, much to the two adults' surprise (even Joel ignored Jacket flipping him the bird). When it faded, another lingering question snuck out of her mind, "How's Marlene?"

"She'll make it."

_Joy._  He didn't hold it against Ellie for trusting Marlene, but that didn't mean he would hate the woman any less.

His aunt noticed his musing of Marlene and tapped him lightly on the shoulder, addressing both her nephew and Joel, "I saw the merchandise…"

_Hope she's not expecting a drumroll to go with that._

She smiled, "It's a lot. Wanna do this?"

"Didn't come along to back out when we can finally earn something more than Robert's death, cathartic as it probably was to you two."

His aunt had come to count on his support whenever she needed it, but she smiled all the same to have it, even now. However, she still turned to Joel; it  _was_  a democracy, after all.

"You heard Jacket," the elder man shrugged. "I ain't about to waste any more time or bullets without somethin' to show for it."

"Alright, then. Let's go."

Ellie followed the three into the room next door. Jacket closed it behind them.

Joel followed his aunt to the pattering window, "Don't you think it's a bit strange they're having us do their smugglin'?"

"'Bout time you noticed," Jacket commented, passing by a listening Ellie. "They seem to be doing worse in Boston than we thought."

"No kidding," his aunt answered. "Says something too, when you think about the military's propaganda all over the Q.Z. about how they're kicking ass out there. We're probably far from Marlene's first choice, or second for that matter."

"And so she resorts to us black market smugglers. How the mighty have fallen." He walked to the bookcase.

"She's lost a lot of good men, beggars can't be choosers."

Joel sighed, "Let's just hope there's someone left alive to pay us."

"Someone'll be there." Aunt Tess, always reassuring and confident.

Jacket didn't have as much confidence in the Fireflies. "There'd better be," he grunted lightly as he pushed to slide the bookcase aside, and a tall hole in the wall revealed a dark room with a lift. "Or I'll find one of them to pay us."

Tess and Ellie shimmied into the next room. Joel stared at him, "Ladies first."

"My own inbred Hercules." He gave an exaggerated scoff, "Be still my beating heart!" He leisurely slid into the next room to escape Joel's glare and joined his aunt and Ellie on the lift. Joel leaned down to grip the handle of the generator's pull cord.

Jacket whispered to his aunt, "How much you wanna bet it's gonna take three pulls to get it going?"

"Enough, Jacket," she warned sternly.

And of course, by the third Joel pulled the cord the generator rumbled to life and the lift was active as was their wont in Joel's hands. Joel joined them the lift and pressed the blinking green button on the wall, "Who's waiting for us at the drop off?"

"She said there's some Fireflies that have traveled all the way from another city." They descended into the dark earth as Jacket's interest was piqued more and more. His aunt seemed to notice the oddity of that statement as well. "Girl must be important." Ellie didn't meet her gaze. "What  _is_  the deal with you? You some big-wig's daughter or something?"

"Something like that." The lift shuddered still as they reached underground, and Joel took point to lead them to the ladder that reached the outside. "How long is all this gonna take?"

"If everything goes as planned, we should get you to them in a few hours."

"And that plan happens to account for the military being on alert?" Jacket asked.

His aunt nodded. "It does. Why?"

"Marlene said something about them riling up the Fireflies. They're gonna be expecting retaliation. I mean, we saw the bodies on the bridge. Remember how long it took for you to get here? I'm thinking they're not gonna go on defense just yet."

"Damn. You're right."

Jacket addressed Ellie without looking back, "Unless something goes really wrong, we should get you there in less than 12 hours at most. Expect a redacted time, maybe couple of hours less."

Ellie looked at Tess with an expression that was part surprised and part impressed. "What he said," Tess shrugged. "Now listen, Ellie. Once we're out there, I need you to follow our lead and stay close."

Joel began to climb to the surface with Jacket at his heel, literally.

"Yeah. Of course."

"Good. If something goes wrong or things get a little hectic, stick close to Jacket. He's gonna move you outta danger quick and protect you in case we're held up for whatever reason, so you won't have to worry about anyone who happens to get close."

"Got it. Stick to Jack–"

"Hold up," Joel suddenly warned, stopping in his climb abruptly.

"Easy; almost ate your foot!" Jacket said, annoyed.

"Patrol up ahead, waitin' for 'em to pass." A couple of short seconds went by and the coast was clear, prompting Joel to climb onto the ground. "Alright, we're good. Come on up."

The elder man slid the board across the hole from whence they climbed once all four were up and about in the raining night.

Jacket let out a silent sigh as the rainfall struck him gently, wishing he could take off his mask and enjoy the cold drops on his face. He missed Tess' look at his direction, a knowing look that he didn't dare to show his face to even a kind and so-far respecting stranger like Ellie, even for rain. Another of Tess' regrets.

"This rain ain't gonna do us any good," Joel commented walking past them.

_Speak for yourself_ , Jacket quipped internally.

"Holy shit…" came the voice with the habit of catching his immediate attention. "I'm actually outside."

"Never been in the rain before?" asked Tess.

"Not like this. Surrounded by the real world." She took a long inhalation of fresh air.

"Real world?" The woman smiled at how similar she sounded to a certain someone she knew.

"You get out here a lot?" she asked Jacket, more rhetoric than querying. "Damn. Maybe I should get into smuggling too."

"Just find a better side business than underground fighting. Not as beautiful an environment," he said, not having faced her once.  _Unless you like raining blood instead of water, and bones sticking out instead of grass blades and vine stalks._

"Noted," she smiled.

Jacket mimicked the expression to himself in irony. If only she heard his thoughts.

Then he remembered his habit of speak out loud to himself, and quickly stopped.

"But who knows," she continued unexpectedly, "Maybe the fighting and pain's what's gonna make it all the more precious. I'd say that's a better alternative to only appreciating it once it's gone but… eh, what do I know?"

That actually gave Jacket pause. He never thought about it that way. He met Aunt Tess' eyes, and saw she was just as surprised and impressed as he was.

They clambered out of the pooling ankle-height water into the sheltering box truck's cargo space.

"Where'd you say you spotted the patrol, J?"

Joel stepped out of the other end of the hold, "Went right through he–"

_Thwack!_  came the butt of the rifle upside the back of Joel's head, tearing a groan of pain from his throat as he fell to the ground.

Two soldiers emerged, one from behind the corner of the box truck's hold and the second from behind them, both training their pistols on them. Jacket immediately held up his hands in surrender, surprising only Ellie with the immediate submission. "Don't do anything stupid," said the gas-masked female before she realized what she was looking at. "What the fuck?"

"Move," demanded the male soldier behind them.

"Turn around, on your knees." They joined Joel, kneeling in the wet mud with their hands on their heads.

"You scan 'em. I'll call it in."

"Yeah… You see the guy with the mask?" she whispered loudly.

"I saw, just call it in."

The soldier went to work by first shoving the scanner in Jacket's neck, "E-easy man! I ain't done nothing wrong!"

"Shut the fuck up."

Ellie was in disbelief at Jacket's behavior.

The soldier moved onto Tess, "Look the other way. We can make this worth your while."

"I said shut up."

"Oh shit," Jacket panicked. "Oh shit, oh shit!"

Ellie realized the immediate surrender and panic was just an act.

The soldier scanning them sighed, "Getting tired of this shit…"

His partner hummed in agreement before awaiting response from the radio.

Jacket couldn't help but notice as Joel was scanned Ellie's breathing rose slowly. Maybe his panicked act was getting the better of her. That was his thought anyway, before her time came to get scanned and she pulled out her switchblade, "Sorry!"

The soldier yelled as the blade dug into his leg. Jacket only saw him knock Ellie aside before his head spun around alongside his feet as he lunged at the soldier behind them, knocking her down and flourishing Harvest from its scabbard and across her throat in one motion. He got off her as she choked on her own blood and turned around quickly enough to see Joel forcing the soldier's gun back against the side of his own head and pull the trigger.

"Oh fuck!" exclaimed a shocked Ellie as she scurried backwards until she hit a crate. "I thought we were just gonna… hold them up or something."

"Quicker and safer to kill them," he stated uncaringly until he looked at her and saw her state. He felt then he should say something, but before he could he overheard his aunt.

"Oh, shit… Jackie, come look at this."

_Jackie_? He turned around frowning, dreading, "What's the matter?" She showed him the scanner. It took him a moment to register what his eyes were showing him. "What the fuck…? That bitch!"

Tess threw the scanner to Joel, who caught it easily. "Jesus Christ." He stared down in disbelief at the flashing screen before looking to Ellie, who seemed so far uncaring that she'd been found out, still shellshocked at the sight of the dead guards. "Marlene set us up? Why the hell are we smugglin' an infected girl?" The two adults loomed over Ellie as she came to in the real world.

"That motherfucker…" whispered Jacket.

"I'm not infected," she protested weakly.

"No? So was this lying?" Joel growled and threw the scanner to the ground in front of her.

"Trusting Marlene fuckin' Booker?" The amazement was thick in the masked boy's voice.

"I can explain," Ellie claimed.

"I should've killed her…" His eyes found focus on the scanner half-buried in the mud, trying to calm his breathing in pace with the rain drops rippling the puddle, only to fan the flames.

"You'd better explain fast," said Tess, "cause this doesn't look so good from where we're standing."

"…I should've fucking killed her when I HAD THE CHANCE!" Jacket burst out and marched past his aunt and Joel, lifting Ellie by her arm and placing Harvest's blade against her neck, throwing her against the top of the crate as his razor-toothed mask bulked imposingly. "You little bitch! I knew I shouldn't have fucking trusted the cunt with handling a toothpick around me! A mistake I committed twice, with her and with you! Guess you were content with sticking your teeth in our backs instead! Fuckin' trusted Marlene Booker!? I'll show the whore what's waiting for her once I get my hands on her! I'll flay her a-fucking-live!"

Her terrified eyes pleaded just as loudly as her words, "Don't kill me, please! Just let me explain!" Her breath was more panicked than Jacket's act, and that spoke volumes, volumes of the fear seeping so deep into her body she didn't even dare to squirm under him or try to escape, too petrified by the knife at her throat like a cold threat that could at any moment become bloody action, and open her neck.

"Let her talk," Joel said strongly behind him. Tess was just as enraged, though her anger is one of silence more often than not. Few things made her lose her composure. Even this wasn't enough

"Oh you'd fuckin' better, you little shit!" He gave a chuckle without humor, "Trusting Marlene fuckin' Booker; okay!" He took a deep breath. "Okay… This better be good."

As if the blade and iron grip and mask wasn't enough to intimidate her, his furious pale eyes struck a deep fear she didn't know she held for anyone or anything other than the infected. "Pull up my right sleeve!"

"What?"

"Look at it!"

He glared for a moment before his grip loosened just enough to slide her red sleeve down before it clamped down on her upper arm. His eyes only glanced for a moment before he did a double take, "What the fuck…"

Joel and Tess walked to their side and inspected the source of his shock. The former waved it off, "I don't care how she got infected."

But it wasn't right, he thought. Around the bite had aberrant growths while missing the ones that should've been present. "No, look at it, Joel."

He did, but he just wasn't seeing it. "What?"

"Does that look normal?"

"It's three weeks old," Ellie cried out. Jacket was taken aback.

"No. No more lies," said Tess, coldly, "Everyone turns within two days. One more truthless word and I'll have him take your tongue."

"It's three weeks, I swear!" Ellie squirmed under Jacket. Then she exclaimed, "No!" as soon as the bowie knife began sliding across the skin of her neck, before she realized she could still breathe and he merely lowered the knife, and she saw the fury leave his eyes and his furrowed brows turned to shock.

She'd never been so powerless before in her life, and found in the new fear instilled in her a hoping to whatever god was out there, if any, that Joel or Tess give her the benefit of the doubt and pull him off her. Not once did it occur to her that in any world would Jacket be the one to believe her.

Her panicked breaths began to calm.

"She's not lying."

Tess' eyes immediately jerked to him, and Joel stared at him dumbfounded, "What?"

Ellie felt herself relax little by little.

"Look at it…" His iron grip loosened and he stood straight, pulling Ellie to sit on the crate with a gentleness that contrasted his previous anger like blood in water. Despite everything, it comforted her just a little bit as he inspected her bite. He believed her. "I've seen a hundred bites, not a single one looks like this."

"So every bite looks the same, not a single one is unique?"

He faced Joel. "I'm saying every bite has a pattern. It wouldn't be an infection's symptom otherwise, genius. These growths just don't align at all with what we've known, some for twenty years and others our entire lives. What the fuck gives her the right to claim  _she's_  unique if she's not?"

"Jacket's right," Tess interjected, much to everyone's surprise. "I've seen a woman who was bitten two hours before I got to her. Her bite only got worse by the minute, and by the time I laid eyes on her… Ellie's shouldn't look that clean. Did you come across an infected while I was gone?"

"Not one," he answered.

"Then that can't be recent. She's telling the truth."

Ellie gave a long sigh of relief, "Thank fuck."

Joel, stubborn as always, shook his head, "I ain't buyin' it…" He froze then, staring off in the distance, and while Jacket hadn't seen what he was seeing, he heard it. The rumbling engine and the crackling of weighty wheels digging into the gravel road.

A jeep. "Shit…"

"Run," Joel said in repressed urgency, before shouting, "Run!"

Tess immediately turned to Jacket, "Go! Go! Move!"

In turn, he pulled Ellie down from the crate and in front of him, urging her along to the urban ditch of long ago ruined sewers and jumped down with her. The water splashed up to their knees and the nearing jeep stopped before the clunking sound of its doors opening reached them. "Holy shit!" one of the new arrivals said at the sight of the bodies left in their wake.

As the second voice reported in their comrades' deaths, the group crouched underneath the remnants of a trailer and hid behind cover from the searching spotlights. Jacket sheathed Harvest.

"Follow me," said Aunt Tess, "Quickly. Alright, Ellie. When I give the signal, we run."

"Signal. Run. Got it."

And they did. A scared Ellie stuck to the masked teenager like glue as ordered with good pace. They vaulted further into the ruins of the former sewers, all moving quickly. Ellie began struggling to keep up.

Maybe it had to do with whether or not she dared to. She wasn't left unaffected by his fury.

The sewage pipe that ran under the road above saved her as he waited for the rest of the group to enter. She entered last and he followed behind her.

Once Joel jumped out the other end of the pipe after Tess, the latter pointed out soldiers patrolling and searching from the asphalt cliffs that persevered the majority of the roads' destruction. Ellie hesitated to jump down once she saw them.

"We got you. Jump down," he reassured. It was enough.

Joel took to peek around the corner where their destination demanded they go further in. "Just stay back."

"This is the part where you stick to Jacket. Alright, Ellie?" said Tess.

She nodded. Jacket tapped her on the shoulder from behind, "I'm your turtle shell, Ellie." The words confused her until he loomed above her from behind like a floating shell. "Don't worry about going too slow. I'll warn you during sprints, and we go at your pace. Got it?"

"Yeah," she nodded. She felt a whole lot more comfortable now with his confidence and assurances. He looked like he could keep them. She didn't want to think about what came after this.

"Alright." Tess whispered loudly to Joel, "Jacket's taking point from here on out."

He nodded.

"Keep your head down, Ellie," Jacket said as they crouched over to the wall underneath one of the soldiers. He leaned past her head to peek at another tunnel. "Now."

They made it past unseen, Joel and Tess following suit. For the next half hour they scoured their way through old buildings and past soldiers and sewers alike, some places a mismatched mixture of the three, but the smugglers, Jacket especially, traversed it all with ease and knowing.

Finally they stopped at a ruin deeper than anything Ellie saw before, reaching too far down for her comfort, the only thing keeping her going the fact that there was a pipe down there that must have led to some underground complex. "Are they gonna follow us down here?"

Jacket stayed silent like expected. Joel was the one to answer, "We ain't stickin' around to find out."

"Keep quiet and lay low, you two," Jacket advised, though it came out demanding. Tess was already used to sneaking with Jacket and so knew sneaking better than Joel and Ellie, so she was doing just fine in his book.

"That was too damn close, Tess." Joel sighed before glancing up at Ellie as he made his way down to the pipe, "You better be worth it, kid."

Jacket didn't miss Ellie's nervosity.

"Hang on," said the older man, "Think this leads somewhere."

"We know," said Tess. "We've been here before. Leads to stairs and a hole in the wall we can squeeze through."

He stared at the nephew and aunt with surprise, "You two've been busy."

"How else would you leech off our hard work?" quipped Jacket.

"Charming."

Once they reached past the stairs and into the aforementioned hole in the wall, more soldiers were heard.

"G.I. up ahead, Joel."

He stopped in his crouch, "You sure?"

Jacket nodded.

"I don't hear anything," said Ellie.

"I do."

Sure enough, above them came soldiers and a jeep driving by, though none saw them and they snuck past easily below them into another underground complex.

"Should be a supply room up ahead," Jacket told Joel, leading him past the massive tunnel that bore into the brick wall. "Did some shoddy repair job on the door in case any desperate scavvers came far enough out here in military zone. Should be enough to fool them into thinking it's too sturdy to force open."

They were faced with metal double doors standing steadfast and strong between them and the supplies.

Joel frowned, staring at it dumbfounded, " _This_  is your idea of a shoddy repair job?"

He walked over before suddenly kicking at the hinges of the left door, and lo, it came off like a cardboard box, smashing loudly against the ground. Unexpectedly, Tess jogged past.

"What, did you forget your spare set of bandanas?"

They followed inside, Ellie quietly observing again.

"No, I forgot to give you this." She threw him something small which he caught mid-air.

"Oh, sweet! A twinkie!" He immediately went about to eat it, turning away from the three and lifting his mask to his nose before shoveling it into his mouth.

_Bullshit!_  thought Ellie.  _I though the shelf life thing was a myth!_

"And here I thought the no expiration thing was a hoax," muttered Joel, unaware of the echoed thoughts in Ellie. "You think the same goes for Kinder Eggs?"

"Hey!" slobbered Jacket with a mouth full, mask lowered on his face again, "We don't joke about those things, they're dangerous! You should be doing crack-cocaine like a red, white, and blue blooded American!"

"Like you know what being an American means," Joel frowned. " _Banter?_ "

Tess shook her head, playing the exasperated caretaker of the two children in her charge, but other times she participated in the…  _banter_ … as much as her nephew. The reason she didn't this time was their cargo, Ellie. She'll allow them to relax but only under her supervision, and she won't expose her own throat.

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm an educated and literate person, Mr. Country Mixtape! Maybe if you read up some more on the effects inbreeding instead of watching NASCAR it wouldn't be a problem with you."

Joel scratched his beard with an erect middle finger.

Ellie couldn't help her chuckle despite having no idea was an ass-car was, and suddenly the two men registered her presence again, mending their guard up again. Joel took to it more seriously, mentally cursing himself for letting his guard down like that. Jacket became reclusive.

As the two men went about collecting the supplies and ammo, Tess had already done so for herself and walked to Ellie, "Come on, we'll wait for 'em by the tunnel." Along the way she couldn't help but both fear and regret the repulsion they met her with.

* * *

The sewer grate groaned as Joel pushed it open. The rest jumped out to finally land in the  _real_  outside, outside of the Q.Z. and military influence alike. The outside they all knew and traversed countless times. Urban jungles are the world now, with vegetation and flora blooming out of every crack in the stone pavements, brick walls, tiled roofs, and every structure with a gap, as if hewn stone and aggressive flora were two sides of the same coin. As if to allude to his parallel between the urban and the jungle of it all, waterfalls formed out of the pooled rain fording down the destroyed highways and bent signs, rivers running down sloping, echelon roads. The skyscrapers in the distance were half-building, half-trees with concrete trunks by this point.

Wild and unruly and natural, yet the deliberately built human structures gave it a feeling of… purpose. And it had; overcoming all that was human and an affront to the balance of nature.

A fitting environment, thought Jacket, looking to Ellie who sat on the ground and breathed out in relief of finally being free from their hunters. She was a wild and unruly element, natural enough to fool him and the other two in his group, but now unknown… yet she was immune. She too had a purpose. But was she worth the risk of overtaking his aunt and Joel, his world, just as nature overtook the city and the human world in retribution?

Tess slammed the grate shut behind him, waking Jacket up from his staring around.

"Alright, they're gone," said Joel.

His aunt kneeled by the girl, "Look, what was the plan? Let's say that we deliver you to the Fireflies, what then?"

"Marlene… She said that they have their own quarantine zone. With doctors there, still trying to find a cure."

"Yeah, we've heard that one before, huh, Tess?" Mocked Joel a bit immaturely thought Jacket (though it was just another form of the very same doubt Jacket harbored).

Ellie seemed to repress her annoyance, "And that… whatever happened to me was the key to finding a vaccine."

"Oh, Jesus."

"It's what she said."

"Oh I'm sure she did."

Ellie's face contorted into anger one second, and the next she was on her feet raising her voice at him, "Hey, fuck you, man. I didn't ask for this."

"Enough," came the muffled baritone of Jacket's voice, "Both of you. Joel, please shut the f– hell up with the smarmy comments. I get that you have doubts, trust me. I share them. But we all saw the bite and we can agree it's not normal–"

"I didn't agree to nothing–"

"And we took this job  _regardless_. So how about giving her the benefit of the doubt, huh? I mean, for god's sake, how many of the Old World scientists claimed with  _tangible_  proof that they could find the cure to Cordyceps? She could have adapted having been born in a world where Cordyceps is commonplace."

As much as he loved Joel, Jacket was never as aggravated as when he was treated like a kid again by him, with Joel just shaking his head and ignoring his words, and turned to Tess instead as if to tell her to get a hold on her unruly kid, "Tess, what the hell are we doing here?"

"Jacket's right," she said.

"I can't believe–" He cut himself off with a sigh.

"What if it's true, Joel?"

Jacket had to remind himself and his clenched fists it was Joel and not some audacious nimrod with a deathwish as he grabbed her by the arm and practically pulled her over to point at the city's ruins that formed the grim and great view in front of them, "Do I need to remind you what is out there?"

Tess glanced at Ellie before staring him in the eyes, "I get it."

Jacket's eyebrows rose. Well… if there was anyone brave enough to bring Joel's kid up…

Tess walked off beneath the highway, and Jacket made his way to her side. Joel and Ellie followed one more quickly than the other. She pointed to the leaning skyscraper in the sky, "This way. If we cut through downtown, we can hit the capitol building by sunrise."

Joel gave some comment, but both knew better than to pay mind when he was in a mood.

She lowered her voice to a whispering volume, "Scout ahead, would ya, kiddo?"

"Sure thing, A.T."

She stopped him by the arm, "Hey. Moment you hear anything, make your way back, okay?"

"Wouldn't have it any other way," he smiled that half-smile she knew.

She nodded with parallel expression, but the concern was there as always.

He made out of the water and jogged ahead on quieter, solid ground. His feet carried him up the road beside the highway as he leapt and jumped across the cracks in the ground. They lost sight of him quickly.

As they made their way to him, Ellie caught up to her pace, preferring Tess adjacent than Joel. She asked the girl, "How's your arm?"

It took her off guard, "Huh?"

Tess sighed, "Look, I get that I was a bit… cold back there–"

"N-no, It's okay. I understand. I mean, I don't but… I'm just glad Jacket didn't carve me open."

She nodded and looked like she wanted to say something to her about it, but instead said, "I got something to dull the pain in your arm a little. I've seen him fight and I know he's got a grip to be feared."

Ellie chuckled with some small measure of unease, "Yeah… He definitely does. B-but I'm good, thanks."

"You know what?" said Tess. "When you're ready, just talk to him."

"Talk to him?"

"Keep your voice down or he'll hear you."

" _Talk to him?_ " Ellie whispered it as if the very suggestion was ridiculous and completely unfounded. Perhaps it was to her.

"Yeah. Just…" Tess leaned closer, her voice lowered, "Cut him some slack. Beside, he's probably more terrified of the idea than you are."

Ellie looked dumbfounded. "Why?"

"Because he's one of the very few good ones I know."

The conversation was cut short as the trio caught sight of Jacket making his way back. "Coast is clear so far. Entrance to the city shouldn't bring trouble. Can't speak for what's inside."

"Good work."

Jacket went past them and to Joel, offering him some 9mm he'd found in one of the cars. Instead of ignoring him or bickering, to Ellie's surprise, they'd gone from mutually antagonizing to a tactical team-spirit attitude. Jacket was counting the amount of bullets he was giving to Joel in exchange for alcohol and bandages; the latter's voice devoid of any negativity. There was only calm.

Ellie didn't know if she should be flattered or concerned that she managed to bring out the other side of the two.

They clambered up the same cracks Jacket jumped, and Ellie found herself short of breath. Both from traversing the ruined road and the sight that welcomed her when she made it up to the even surface.

"Holy moley. I guess this is what these buildings look like up close. They're so damn tall."

She wasn't wrong, though once they were even taller, as now several had crashed down into the ground or tipped onto another, leaving what parts of the buildings had fallen to hang on the teetering edge, some almost literally, of staying up in the sky where they belonged or crashing down to crumble itself and everything beneath it.

"So what happened here?"

"Ruthless altruism," said Tess. "They bombed the areas around the Q.Z. to hell, hoping to kill as much of the infected as possible. It even worked, for a little while."

Joel gave a chuckle, and Jacket suddenly stopped in his tracks and raised his hand for them to do the same. Ellie, perplexed, glanced between the two adults. As if she spoke the question out loud, Jacket said warningly, "A hateful wind…"

"What?" she asked, and just as the last breath of the word left her lips, a bolt of lightning scarred the sky and thundered, and the wind that followed carried a bestial screech, short as it lasted to their ears. "Uhhh, what the hell was that?"

"A hateful wind," Tess answered dryly.

"How far would you say, Jacket?" asked Joel.

"Too far to be directly in our path. But that's only the one that we heard, and sounds like something or someone aggravated it."

"He's right," added Tess, "Keep your guard up, might still be more closer than we think."

Ellie asked, "What, uh… what do I do if we come across any? Only got my switchblade, just so you know."

"Same as before, stick to Jacket."

She did so wordlessly. They walked uphill on ruined ground to stand at the edge of a massive hole boring into the earth, several busses and cars littering the crater. "Jesus," said Jacket slowly, "that is a fucking drop of drops."

"Yeah, no kidding," she muttered in awe.

She jumped a little when Tess flicked his ear and he flinched violently, "Ow!"

"Well, there's the capitol building," Joel pointed to their right in the distance.

"Your eyes haven't failed you yet," quipped Jacket, rubbing his ear.

"Neither has my right hook."

"Bet you can't say the same about your erection."

"Would you clowns come here already? You too, Ellie." Tess called out, and they turned around to see her walking to the building beside them.

They were finally shielded from the rain when they got into the leaning building. Past the first door and they found a soldier without half a face lying on his side, covered in blood.

"He's been ripped apart," said Tess. "Body's pretty fresh."

"Is that bad?"

That gave Jacket pause.  _The body's been ripped apart and it's pretty fresh. Is that bad?_  He glanced subtly at Ellie.  _She's not retarded, is she?_

"Maybe," answered a more polite-minded (or tongued) Tess, to the girl's question. "Let's not stick around."

And that's why he and Joel let her do the talking.

They walked past the bloodied corpse and up a floor through the stairs, entering the hallway to a disgusting sight.

"Oh, goddammit," groaned Jacket.

"Jesus, what happened to its face?" asked Ellie, and that truly shocked Jacket.

"You've seriously never seen a clicker before?"

She shook her head, "No. Not once."

_Huh… More sheltered than I expected. Or hoped._

"That's what years of infection'll do to you," Tess explained.

"So, what, they're blind?"

"Sort of. They see using… what was it called?" She tried to remember what Jacket told her from one of his books. "Echolocation."

"Nice save," he commented.

"Thanks. They see using sound, basically."

"Like bats?"

"Like bats. When you hear one clicking, you gotta hide; that's how they see you."

Joel opened his mouth but Jacket cut him off, "Yeah, yeah, shut up, I know."

He grabbed the shoulder of a dead clicker, overgrown against the wall and door with fungi, before tearing it loose and throwing the body to the side.

"It was your turn," said Joel. Jacket mocked him.

The smash came suddenly when he rammed himself into the door, Joel and Tess advancing with guns raised, as they'd done so many times.

Room was clear and they lowered their pistols. The concrete trembling startled them.

"Whole building feels like it's about to fall apart," said Joel.

Not long passed before another locked door blocked their path. Even Joel struggled with this one, and Tess ordered Jacket to help. Once, twice, and the door was forced ajar. Joel glanced at the cabinet that'd blocked the door fall down with a loud groan, and saw Jacket flourish Harvest from his holster looking wide-eyed behind him, "Clicker!"

He turned around quickly enough to come face to face with a teethed-cleft faced, croaking monster as it knocked him to the ground and furiously swung at him.

Jacket swung Harvest in an arc and the blade severed its head cleanly. He struggled to rise and Jacket kicked it off him, body and head severing to land in two beside Joel before giving him a hand.

"You alright?" asked a concerned Jacket.

He nodded. "Thanks…"

"Of course."

"You sure you're okay?" Ellie breathed softly.

"'Is nothing," he bit out, breath labored.

Joel being an asshole again  _was_  a good sign.

"Jacket, look for supplies; Joel, you're on overwatch in case any more turn up from the sound."

They played their roles perfectly. The former scoured every cabinet and countertop, hands as deft as his eyes and smell, and yet for everything good those experimental military supplements the government fucked around with did him, he didn't anticipate Ellie's presence, through senses or expectation.

Her intense exhale made him damn-near jump. "Ah, that was intense!"

He couldn't figure why she even still wanted to be near him, much less make conversation, "No kidding…"

"You didn't seem nervous."

"Wasn't. Doesn't mean it wasn't intense." After a minute he found everything to be found, and called out, "Clear!" The two adults joined the room. "Patch yourself up before you bruise," he told Joel, handing him one of the bandages he got in exchange for the 9mm bullets. He tried to refuse, but Jacket wouldn't have it, "Just take it."

"Thanks..."

He nodded and they continued on. As was expected of the ruin of a building, it proved a maze to tread, corners around corners, room after room, and jumping down and climbing up.

Still, they went a good while before another clicker showed up. This time it'd been after they climbed up a ledge. Tess and Jacket lent Joel a hand to lift him up the edge and to his feet, so the clicking came unexpectedly, but Jacket heard it before it spotted them. He warned with a whisper and they ran into the next room to hide behind a table. Its croaking and clicking loudened as it ran, following them into the same room but failed to sense them.

Jacket met his aunt's eyes, and nodded. He snuck with light feet around the table with his hand on Harvest's hilt flat against the small of his back, and the glass bottle Tess threw in the opposite direction shattered. It screeched at the sound long enough for him to slide his bowie knife out of its scabbard and harvest the clicker.

Its head thumped against the ground, practically saying, "All clear," and they cropped up like grass from behind the counter.

"Nice swing," said Tess with a smile.

"I seriously don't understand how you don't just lie down and die from fear when getting close to one of those things," said Ellie. He but held up his knife and shook it. "Well, I guess the big ass knife helps."

To everyone's surprise, including his own, he chuckled genuinely.

When only silence followed, Tess made her thoughts known, "Think that's it. Ellie, you alright?"

"Other than shitting my pants, I'm fine."

"Alright, let's keep going."

When they continued on, Jacket learned more and more about Ellie from her actions. For example, it was obvious from when they made their way out of a window and onto the suspended platforms that she was afraid of heights, if her shallow breathing was any indication. It had started when they ascended the building. One of the platforms creaking and almost collapsing didn't help.

"I won't let you fall," Tess said, and it was true. She was keeping as much of an eye on her as herself. Ellie nodded gratefully and proceeded.

Her relief was palpable when they found a way inside again. In Jacket's case, he was put more on edge than before since he began hearing something akin to moans, and not the exciting kind you'd hear in some corners of the underground world in the Q.Z. That, accompanied by the unmistakable croaking of clickers, and you had a cocktail of motivation more than enough to drive them into jump onto the unstable platform again. But they waded on nonetheless because that's who they were and what they did.

Joel found a revolver from the body of a dead soldier so near the sounds even they heard it loud and clear.

"Runners," Tess said.

"And one clicker," Jacket pointed out. "Come on; let's check it out, J."

"Right behind you," Joel drawled. He turned to Tess, "Stay with the girl."

Jacket's jump down was quieter than Joel's. Once in the deadly pit of infected, they moved like a pair of headhunters, the latter on light distractions to isolate lone strays and the former harvesting them. They worked fairly quickly, but would've been way quicker if Tess had been with them and taken care of tactics, as a few hiccups appeared where they had been forced to hide to avoid getting swarmed. Also unfortunately, their view from the floor above had been less than useful, so they went in blind.

Still, all things considered, it went ruthlessly smooth, until a final hiccup.

When the final clicker was targeted, Jacket made the mistake of not watching his step, breaking the golden rule of a hunter, and stepped in water. The splash alerted the croaking beast, and it shrieked at him. But before he could even shake himself out of his frozen state, Joel charged in swinging with his 2X4 at its head, brutally knocking it down and beating its head in.

"Clear!" Joel called out all while pretending not to be pleased with himself and Jacket's reaction. Again, he noticed Ellie nervous, more than she ought to be considering  _he_  was the one that jumped down along with Joel.  _Thinking about it, is the thought of being around the infected more terrifying than being around Joel to her?_

Another ten minutes later and they were making their way down underground from inside the building, the ground collapsed to extensively it reached a subway station. Along the way, Tess initiated conversation, addressing both guys, "You know, I was thinking… After we get back, we can take it easy for a little while."

Joel seemed amused and surprised alike, while Jacket only counted himself as the latter, "Who are you and what've you done to A.T.?"

"Yeah, yeah… but really, I mean it. All three of us can relax, finally. You can keep training and fighting and have more than enough time over for your books. Maybe you can even convince Joel to finally fight in the ring."

The Texan chuckled mockingly, "Yeah, I'm sure my ring-persona can only be a charming personality."

Jacket scoffed, "Dude, look me in the eyes and tell me the name 'Texan Thunder' doesn't strike arousal into the hearts of every sister and first cousin."

The times when he managed to make both Tess and Joel crack were extremely rare, but this was one of those times. Ellie knew enough etiquette to keep herself out of their private and personal conversations, but despite not hearing what they were saying, even she couldn't help her laughter as she heard Tess lose it, and Joel struggle to keep in his rumbling chuckles.

Joel finally sighed out, "One of these days, I'm gonna feed you my fist for one of those comments even if it means my life at Tess' hands."

"Alright, enough," said Tess calmly, smiling. "Jokes aside, what do you think?"

Joel liked the idea and voiced his agreement. "If you mean it and you're not just messing with us, I don't see why not."

Jacket nodded, "Of course, A.T. But how about we conclude our little deal with Bill before doing it? I don't want him hunting us down just so he can bitch about how tough it was to find and fix all those mixtapes."

"God forbid."

With that, it was decided.

They jumped down into the subway station, and the first sight that greeted them had Jacket almost exasperated.

"Honestly, with how amazing it's going for these guys, I'm not even surprised the first thing we found was a dead Firefly."

"No kidding," said Joel, though his tone conveyed as much of his concern as his following words did, "Here's hoping there's enough alive in their group to pay us."

"Like I said, there'd better be." Jacket stopped at another Firefly's body dead at the collapsed stairs, a note in his hand. He swiped it out of its macabre grip gently, eyes scanning the page and reading aloud, "Meet up with second Firefly team at Capitol Building. Girl, 5'3 (question mark). 14 years old, red hair. Huh… Not our guys, so at least that's a plus."

"More like not a minus," Joel mumbled.

"Just don't get ahead of yourself," he answered in a mildly annoyed tone. "God knows you love to do that 'cause you're just so eager to be negative." He threw the paper to the ground.

"What're you gonna do to me if you don't get paid?" Ellie surprised them with.

"What?" asked Tess, too perplexed and taken aback by the suddenness of the question. Jacket froze and Joel looked between the three of them in confusion.

Only then did the realization strike Jacket like a punch. Her nervousness when Joel told her she better be worth the trouble after they got caught by the military, her attempt at connecting under duress after he saved Joel, her apparent fear of heights by the suspended platforms after their effortlessly taking out the clicker, yet not taking a single step back from the edge of the giant crater the Old World bomb punched into the ground…

After how he put a blade at her throat, looming over her with his mask of terror and furious eyes, roaring in anger… How could she not be terrified of what might become of her should the Fireflies not appear.

He became to her what the fighters in the ring were to him as a child only starting out, yet worse.

In those moments when he terrorized her, Jacket was Ellie's grim reaper come too early, her Tartarus for the innocent of crime.

Had he not been there this day, she would never have felt those moments of terror…

Joel's question pulled him from his stupor, "What in the hell are you talking about, girl?"

Ellie only stared, so sure that her fears were founded. Why wouldn't she? Her voice trembled in equal measure of fear and anger. "Don't bullshit me, man."

"Hey," said Tess, "Listen, Ellie, nothing's gonna happen to you. You're the cargo, not the employer, okay? You don't owe us a thing. When we hand you off, you're just another bystander, far as we're concerned. You're not one of the Fireflies, unless Marlene was lying."

It didn't come as a surprise that Tess was the diplomatic one; the trio knew had those words come from either Joel or Jacket, there wouldn't stand a chance in the world of the girl believing them. Just the same was Joel's idiocy not a surprise to Tess or Jacket, even to the latter, that he would be the one to comment, "Wouldn't be the first time she'd lie."

Jacket knew better than to sabotage a diplomatic "incident".

"I'm not one of them," Ellie insisted desperately, though indignantly at the elder man.

"We won't hurt you," Jacket found the courage to say, more surprisingly without shaking, "If someone's gonna pay us in any way, it'll be our employers. It's not to be you. I promise."

She looked surprised, and nodded slowly.

Tess smiled at him, but he only felt he didn't deserve such a beautiful thing, before putting on her business-like composure, "Let's not stick around, okay? We're here to get you to safety, Ellie, so let's do it." This, they could all agree on. She ordered for Jacket to take point, and he'd already heard the faint sounds in the distance. Immediately he crouched and the rest parroted him.

His fears were confirmed once he passed under the hanging concrete, recognizing the sounds unmistakably along with the others. If none of them heard the sounds, however, the runner shambling past their vision assured them of what lies ahead.

Same as before, Ellie was to stick to Jacket whilst Tess watched the rear and Joel assisted the younger ones by staying closer. Jacket caught the sight of a Molotov in one of the lockers and grabbed it. Joel loaned him a lighter, and moved to choke out the runner while he threw the handheld hellfire (another of Jacket's overdramatic names, but he liked it nonetheless) in the most middle point of the infected, and they all ran or shambled into it to burn alive in horrible screeching.

"Jesus Christ," Ellie whispered, looking away under where he placed his hand against the cover they hid behind.

"They'll quiet down soon."

It wasn't reassuring, and maybe it wasn't meant to be, but true to his word the pained howls died out quickly and the girl sighed in relief.

That was her only reaction. For the rest, she watched with almost sickening fascination at how well the trio worked together. Tess called out infected to the other two, and Joel and Jacket took care of them cunningly, with distractions and disorientations. Once they were no longer outnumbered, the trio confidently yet with moderate caution, took out the rest.

They reached the end of the room and were met by a locked gate. Jacket spotted the ladder hanging off the edge above it. Joel boosted Tess to pull it down, and when she did it clanked loudly against the ground.

Clickers sounded their hunt with their trademark behind the group. "Climb quick, I'll watch behind," said Jacket.

Thankfully, everyone made it up safely. He took the precaution of pulling the ladder back up behind him.

They jumped down into the flooded train tracks and climbed above ground again by way of the pile of crumbled road.

They reached a crossroad and Joel asked, "Which way we goin', Tess?"

She gave it thought before Jacket pointed them to the right, "Should be there."

"Should be?"

"If reality is still reality, yes."

"He's right," said Tess, and glared at him when he quipped he always was.

They followed the given direction, and Ellie asked Jacket, "What'd you mean back there when you said the right way  _should_  be here if reality is still reality?"

"Guessed, basing off the moon's position."

"That's... smart."

He paused only in speech. "…Thanks."

They came across three runners not long after, and took them out easily. "These soldiers were recently infected," Tess observed from their lack of excess growths. "There's gotta be more nearby."

"So let's move quickly, then," Joel advised.

They climbed over a truck that'd somehow managed to position its ends from building to building, blocking off the entire road, and jumped down to arrive at another a dead end, this one of debris and rubble. They were closed off. Joel did spot a garage door next to them, however, and waved for them to follow, grabbing the chain and pulling it methodically with strength. It ground and shook as if speaking its rust-denoted age that'd taken a toll on it.

"Shit…" Jacket whispered, hoping he was imagining the sounds that reached him.

His aunt turned to him, "What's wrong?"

He listened for a moment more, and quickly turned vigilant, "Double-time it; goddamn horde's screaming this way."

Not a second later and they began hearing it too. Joel grunted and the chain rattled like a steel serpent with every violent pull downward.

"Oh, they're coming!" Ellie said with small panic at the unfettered roars and croaks of monsters.

"Fuck this," the masked teenager decided and grabbed under the gate before lifting it, easing Joel's job and opening their escape route quicker.

Tess and Ellie crouched underneath and the former quickly grabbed the chain, allowing the two men to swing themselves into the next room as well, escaping by a hair's breadth and Jacket rolled on the ground away from the hand that reached for him. He stood up hurriedly beside his aunt as the group stared at the garage door, dreading if it'd hold or not against the onslaught of infected rattling and denting it.

When the rage died down and their fading tramples heralded the horde's passing, they breathed out in relief. Ellie turned to inspect Jacket's behind. "You might wanna check your back pocket for change…"

Jacket frowned and realized that his pants felt a little heavier, looking back before giving a comical squeal as he swatted at the severed hand gripping onto his back pocket by its fingers.

Tess laughed at him, adrenaline coursing through her veins, "What the hell was that?"

He sounded indignant while rubbing his derriere, "What can I say? I got a sensitive butt, especially once the rush dies down."

Joel sighed in exasperation and removed himself from the conversation before he could get pulled in.

"It went after your ass?" Ellie asked disbelievingly.

"Infected and human alike have tried…" He wagged his eyebrows suggestively.

The girl laughed at that, though it did little to allay his guilt. Still, it was a pleasant sound.

They moved further into the garage and past the truck that occupied it when Joel asked, "Okay, so how do we get out of this place?"

"I think I remember this place," he muttered off-handedly. The very garage was distinct to him, for some reason.

"You do," answered Tess.

_Of course,_  he recalled, _you took me here when I was a kid…_

Joel called him and he looked over to see the man preparing at a workbench, and joined his side to watch as he upgraded the 9mm and revolver. It was nothing extensive, but no harm in learning the basics before the drastic jury-rigging starts.

"What're you guys doing?" Ellie asked.

They were thankful when Tess took her away from them to distract her from bothering them further. She told the girl they'd be searching for supplies and components for the gun upgrades, "Jacket's learning how to care for a gun. Said if he doesn't constantly make himself useful and learn new things he'll stagnate. Stagnation is a slow but sure death, way he talks about it."

"Pretty sure life is a slow death," the girl commented.

"Not if your life consists of bone-breaking ring-fights and running from hordes of runners and clickers."

"Fair enough," Ellie shrugged. "Is he always trying to do something?"

"To say he doesn't enjoy idle hands would be an understatement."

"Huh…"

Tess looked at her, "You seem surprised."

"I mean… the guy's violent, and when pissed off he's pretty fucking terrifying, but somehow it never occurred to me that he'd have a stick up his ass… uh, no offense."

She smiled as they went into the back of the truck, "The only reason he's not one for idle hands is so that ours can be."

"What's that mean?"

"He does everything he can to make my life and Joel's easier. He wants  _us_  to relax for once. Says we've done more than enough for him."

"The guy who makes a living in bone-breaking ring-fights thinks you smugglers need to relax?"

Tess chuckled with mirth, "I know, right? Smuggling's basically a vacation for him, he says, and acts like we're doing him a favor letting him help  _us_  during  _his_  free time. Not to mention he's the youngest of us three." But it faded slowly, "If only he'd realize the irony. But he's stubborn that way, always needs to owe us, just can't look at it any other way than him being a self-aware parasite."

There was a short silence where the inner workings of Ellie's mind mixed both idiocy and bravery in equal measure, setting the precedent of her asking, "He's your son?"

Tess' eyes snapped up to hers, turning from worried to ice-cold, before the cold oddly enough turned to something resembling… anticipation, hope maybe? "He told you that?"

"N-no, he just mentioned he was seventeen. And the way you talked about him just now…"

Tess' eyes chilled cold again, piercing, and for a moment the hazel of her eyes swam with as pale as Jacket's, with matching fury burning like ashen flames. Ellie knew in that moment that, if not mother and son they were definitely blood. Her words that followed only confirmed.

"No one can know we're related. Sure as shit not Marlene."

Somehow she managed to reassure her with confidence, "Hey, if she finds out, it won't be from me. Promise."

Tess nodded slowly. Not out of trust for Ellie, but rather trust out of what she'd do to her if she broke her word, possible cure to Cordyceps or not.

"Tell you what," Ellie proposed (she was just full of idiotically brave ideas today!), "If I finally grow some balls and work up the courage to talk to him while he's wearing that… thing, I'll do my best to make him relax and have fun. How does that sound?"

That gave Tess pause, and her mouth opened and closed while she tried to formulate words to ask, failing just as much as she failed formulating an understanding in her head, "Why?"

"When I talked to him, he seemed cold at first. Then, after we got to the apartment, he seemed… timid."

There was something in Tess' eyes; she believed Ellie, but was still interested in hearing her continue.

"Then he talked to me with more respect. He was still being short, but there was something in his eyes, I think… I dunno, I'm probably just imagining things–"

"Guilt."

Ellie's eyes widened, "So it's possible?"

"Probable, even. There's no way he isn't beating himself up over treating you the way he did. Doesn't make a difference that most would probably have shot you then and there, or that the way he acted was justified."

Why? she wanted to ask. The guy's an underground fighter and handles a blade like it's a part of his hand. He's probably killed more humans than infected with it, too. So what the hell does he care? Then common sense kicked in, and she stopped herself. She might've been friendly enough, but she wasn't going to risk coming off as nosy. Not when she's come this far with them. Besides, she came to the conclusion of the two being related by herself so anything she didn't suspect she'd leave them to decide if she should know. Ellie enjoyed privacy, and so should they.

But she still hadn't gotten an answer. "So? He is your kid?"

"He's family…" Tess stared before shaking her head, "but he's not my son."

She let it be. "You know… I think this talking's been working my courage up a bit more."

Tess smiled, "As well it should. Just look past the mask and you'll know he's not a bad kid. Just don't look past it literally. He's not... comfortable without his mask when with strangers."

Again, she repressed her questions and let it be with a nod. At the end of their talk, components and salvageable parts filled her hands. When the truck was combed thoroughly, they took it all back to the men of the group.

The metal parts clinked together as she poured the contents of her hand out on the workshop table, "This was all there was."

"Good work," Joel said absently.

"Thanks, A.T.," muttered Jacket.

"Don't forget to thank Ellie."

He hummed questioningly, before her name registered. He faced the girl, "Sorry, focused on the gun. Thank you."

She appreciated his eye contact; she noticed he struggled to, and that only made it feel all the more sincere. Even if he looked away a bit quick.

"Of course," she parroted back to him with a smile, the way he'd respond to Joel's gratitude.

Speaking of, the Texan man waved them off, "We're almost finished," before adding silently, " _If only there'd been some tools around._ "

Sure enough, another two minutes and Joel concluded the lesson, Jacket a little more satisfied with his own efforts and a little more knowledgeable.

They proceeded through what was the first floor of the museum, and perhaps the most uninteresting as Jacket remembered it. Regardless, they searched it for supplies.

Tess asked Ellie, "So Marlene thinks you're immune?"

"Well, that's what she believes."

Jacket was a little pleased and a little annoyed when he guessed correctly that Joel'd scoff or make some other dismissive noise. Tess ignored it.

"Well, how were you bitten? I mean, you must've been somewhere you shouldn't to find an infected in the zone."

Ellie admitted sheepishly, "Yeah… I'd sneak out. I was in a military boarding school."

"Now they're making Firefly sleeper agents out of kids," Jacket mocked Joel with a dead tone before focusing on their conversation as he continued searching.

"You'd sneak out?"

"You know… Explore the city. I was in the mall when I got bitten."

That raised a giant question mark over Jacket's head, and he turned around. It caught the girls' attention. "The mall? Thing's completely swarmed with infected. And forget the why of it; just  _how_  the hell did you manage to get in?"

"I… had my ways. Anyways, one of those… what you guys call runners… bit me, and that was that."

"I see," said Tess.

Jacket did too. His heartstrings tugged as he imagined the poor girl terrified as she stared at the bite mark on her forearm, panicking without a clue on what to do about it, dreading the moment she'd become one of the infected. He tried to shake the feeling; it wouldn't help anyone at this point, least of all Ellie. Jacket wouldn't wish pity for himself, and he doubted Ellie would.

"Were you with Marlene?" Tess continued with her questions, "When you were bit?"

"No, I went to her after for help."

"Knowing her I'm surprised she didn't shoot you." Jacket agreed.

"She almost did. I hope she's gonna be alright." Jacket didn't agree.

"I told you, she's gonna be fine," Tess said, and he couldn't find it in himself to feel betrayed or angry at her for trying to comfort the poor girl.

When they finished scavenging whatever they could find and reach, they continued on to the sloped, caved in ground leading to the second floor. Just before the adults took point and moved up, Ellie gasped when she accidentally elbowed a vase, and hadn't it been for Jacket stumbling to catch it it'd have shattered and alerted anything unsavory nearby. The sound of his rapid steps turned their heads.

Ellie looked at him wide-eyed, apologetic at his exasperated stare, "Oh, shit. Sorry, sorry, that was an accident!" Eyes softening, he nodded wordlessly.

"Tess!" Joel complained, annoyed.

"Sorry," Ellie repeated annoyed herself, and thanked Jacket.

Following their stride up, the second floor greeted them with old displays and rotten reminders of history. "What is this place?" she asked.

"Museum," Jacket answered simply.

Tess nodded, "Yeah, some of these things are hundreds of years old."

"Really? Wow." Her eyes wandered over the remnants of these historical reminders, each carrying an enigma for her to find out. As the group looked around, Ellie joined Jacket's side as he looked at one particular display of a ship. "What's that, a boat?" Her voice made clear her interest for the artifacts.

He glanced at her, surprised only for a moment that she approached him, before turning back to the ship figurine. "A ship. It's a handmade replica of a Man-O'-War. Or Man-Of-War, whichever."

"Sounds awesome."

"They were. First one was made in Europe, in a country called Portugal. These were warships, made to be feared and effective in naval combat."

"How big were they?"

"Somewhere around sixty meters long if I recall. Standard amount of cannons were fifty-six for each broadside. That means three decks of cannons and ammunition alongside the usual supplies."

"Damn…"

He hummed, "Mhm. One broadside could potentially devastate a coastal town or grouped enemy ships. That's not to mention using different kinds of munitions like heated cannonballs."

"You seem to know a lot."

He was silent for a short moment. "I read a lot. Books, comics, journals, diaries. Pretty much anything I can find. Fictional or educational. Doesn't matter if I find it in a library or a house."

"So you're a strong fighter,  _and_  smart?"

He shrugged, "…Knowledgeable, at least."

She smiled, "At least." She turned and pointed to their right, "What's that?"

He turned to look at the mannequin displayed with an old, blue frock coat with straps across its chest and buttons lining it. He remembered this one best of everything in the building, and he was actually happy she asked. "That's an old military uniform. Belonged to a local hero. Some kid, quiet, kept to himself, mostly. Bookish, but worked hard, and when the time came to fight he enlisted immediately." He'd never connected with any other kid back in the Q.Z. as he did someone who died hundreds of years ago, nor admired them. Thinking back on it now, maybe it was this kid who inspired him to the diligence he was proud of today. Well, that, and the nagging guilt if he didn't.

"Wasn't too much information on the plaque, so I don't know anything other than that he left a positive impression on his fellow soldiers and the area in Boston he grew up in. Everyone learned his name, no one forgot him. Became something of a patriotic figure. Died in a battle, but the name of it's faded along with his name on the plaque. Made a local hero and a war hero both."

"How can a guy be a hero and not have his name remembered?"

"Probably was, just that it's lost now to us. Like I said, plaque's faded."

"Huh. Some guy he must've been. Is that his… hero coat or something?"

"Hero coat?"

"I mean if people liked him they might've tailored him a unique one. Like a leader or something."

He shook his head, "Just a kid like any other at the time. I doubt you could've pointed him out of a crowd unless you asked his name. Folk outside the minutemen he was with didn't appreciate him until after he died, but he left an impression on his brothers in arms immediately. Most common color the American Patriots wore, his is no different except for the flaming saber-on-skull patch embroidered onto the right chest. Americans fought against British soldiers called Redcoats – for obvious reasons."

"So it was literally a red versus blue type of deal?" Ellie asked, turning back to him with a raised eyebrow. He nodded, and she looked back, "Talk about on the nose."

He was quiet for a small while before commenting, "At least there was clarity in the battlefield."

She shrugged, "Guess it'd hard to mistake an ally for an enemy when they're color coordinated. What kind of guns did they use?"

"Inferior to todays, obviously. Muskets were single shot and had to be reloaded more manually and slowly than the ones we got."

"More manually? What does that even mean?"

"Bullet casings contain gunpowder, right? And the bullet itself, of course. Muskets had to have gunpowder poured into the gun from the end of the barrel, pushed down with some type of long stick to put the gunpowder at the end of the gun. Then they finally put a big, round bullet inside, took aim and fired. All very systematic, not nearly as streamlined as modern guns."

Ellie was more and more impressed by his knowledge. Jacket really had a habit of surprising her in more ways than one.

There was a silence that filled the room after he finished, and the rain poured from the cracks in the ceiling and spattered against the floor like a broken hourglass. He felt like they were wasting time in deafening silence.

She'd meant to break it, but Tess' voice echoed before hers did, "Jacket, Ellie."

Jacket went almost too eagerly, and Ellie followed.

"Found a way, yet?" he asked.

Joel motioned past a door leading to a room that looked almost completely caved in but for the small hole they could no doubt crouch through. "Under here."

"Looks dangerous, especially since it looks like we have to move the beam."

"Since when has dangerous ever deterred you?"

He exaggerated a scoff, "Who said it did?"

Joel crouched and lifted the groaning beam to let Ellie pass through first, followed by Tess.

It had been Jacket's turn when the building rumbled and dust fell on top of him, and the kid gripped Joel and pulled him back to safety as the room completely caved, separating the men and the women.

"Jacket! Joel!"

"We're alright," answered the latter. "We'll make our way around to you."

Their blood froze in their veins as the harrowing sound of clickers sounded from the women's side of the rubble. " _A.T.! Hide!_ " he hissed not-too loud.

"Shit!" exclaimed his aunt, "We'll find each other if we go around, now go!"

She disappeared along with a frantic Ellie as the infected sounded louder and louder and their running faded faster and faster. The last thing Jackie and Joel saw were the monsters rushing by their vision to hunt down Tess and Ellie.

"We have to get to them and I'm not wasting," Jacket stated, striding down the hallway, and Joel didn't need to speak his approval. His expression and nod said enough, and he followed.

Then came the silence, and following the worst sound that they could've heard, reverberating through every doorway in the museum like a mocking death letting them know they waited around corners they didn't know. They stopped dead in their tracks as clickers sounded their stalking call.

Jacket's composure didn't tremble, but his rasping Harvest did as he unsheathed it.


End file.
